A fight between Live Oak High School students is the latest
incident reflecting rising tension among representatives of
northern and southern street gangs in South County, police
said.
A fight between Live Oak High School students is the latest incident reflecting rising tension among representatives of northern and southern street gangs in South County, police said.
School staff called police about 12:50 p.m. Friday to report a fight in the school’s outdoor quad area. Morgan Hill Police Sgt. Shane Palsgrove said seven students – five males and two females – were cited for charges related to fighting and disrupting the school. Two of the males are accused of being involved in a physical fight, and the rest were cited for “yelling or encouraging the fight.” All those cited were juveniles.
The fight was “between north and south,” Palsgrove said, indicating at least some of those cited were gang members.
Police think at least 10 students were involved in the scuffle, and are still trying to identify the other three.
Some of the fighters suffered minor injuries, but no one required medical treatment. No weapons were involved, according to Palsgrove.
The fight was only the second violent gang-related incident in Morgan Hill since the Oct. 2 homicide of Juan Arellano, Jr., in front of the Crest Avenue Apartments.
A similar fight occurred on a VTA community bus carrying Live Oak students after school Oct. 15, when the driver called police to report a “boxing match” among about eight teenage males, Cmdr. Joe Sampson said. Five of the teens allegedly involved in that incident were arrested when the bus came to a stop, and up to four ran away before police could contact them.
Opposing fighters in that incident wore red and blue clothing, indicating representation of rival street gangs.
No significant injuries resulted from either fight, and police are cautious about directly linking the incident to a series of violent gang-related attacks that ended in Arellano’s death last month. Still, police are concerned with the apparent growing hostilities among alleged Norteño and Sureño gang members, Sgt. Jerry Neumayer said.
“There’s still a lot of tension in the air between the gangs, probably resulting from the homicide last month,” Neumayer said. “But was (Friday’s fight) because of that? I don’t know.”
Police are following “a few leads,” Neumayer added, but are still seeking any information from witnesses or Arellano’s acquaintances to assist in the ongoing investigation.*”We need the help of the community in cases like this,” Neumayer said.
Since Arellano’s death, which was the last of three escalating attacks within about four hours the night of Oct. 2, police have had extra units on the streets, including officers working overtime.
Before the shooting death of 24-year-old Arellano, a group of young men reportedly wearing blue clothing -a color associated with the Sureño gang – shouted gang slogans and attacked 31-year-old Jerry Devito of Gilroy about 9 p.m., outside Morgan Hill Bowl at Tennant Station. Devito was transported to Saint Louise Regional Hospital to be treated for 14 stab wounds.
And before that, about 8:15 p.m. Oct. 2, a group of teenagers, also wearing blue, beat up a 16-year-old male at a bus stop near Main and Hale avenues. The victim was hospitalized for several days with injuries including a ruptured spleen.
Arellano, Jr. was shot about 11:20 p.m. Oct. 2 by at least two unknown attackers with a 9mm hand gun. The young men, described as being between 16 and 20 years old, were wearing blue clothing and likely thought Arellano was affiliated with the Norteño gang.
Police have characterized the incidents as being tied by a “gang thread.”
Aside from the two fights involving Live Oak students, there have been no notable violent incidents involving street gangs in Morgan Hill since Oct. 2, Neumayer said.
In Gilroy, police have reported numerous violent attacks motivated by opposing gang affiliations in the last month. Most recently, a 17-year-old was injured in a drive-by shooting on Southgate Court. That incident occurred about 9:30 p.m. Oct. 27, and police said it apparently involved Norteños shooting at Sureños.
Morgan Hill police are working closely with police in Gilroy to try to contain the violence and limit the tension.
Based on students’ accounts of the fighting on campus Friday, details about the incident were still unclear at press time, and there might have been more than one fight.
Some students said no fights occurred, but they heard of threats of fighting earlier in the day.
A 15-year-old male student, David Camargo, said a fight between two males occurred in the lunch line. He was standing near the fight when it started, and stopped a fellow student who attempted to join in.
Another student was cited for possession of marijuana, but that student was not involved in the fighting, Palsgrove said.
Principal Nick Boden referred questions to the Morgan Hill Unified School District main office. A phone call to that office was not returned by press time.
He repeatedly intervened when a Times reporter attempted to talk to students, and said the media was not allowed to speak with students.
Up to seven officers remained on campus, with their patrol cars parked out front, until school got out about 3:15 p.m.
Police were concerned that the violence would spill off-campus over the weekend. However, no more violent incidents were reported.
Anyone with information about recent gang-related crimes may call Morgan Hill Police at 779-2101.
Timeline
-8:15 p.m. Oct. 2: A 16-year-old male was beaten at a bus stop near Main and Hale avenues by an unknown man. The victim was wearing red clothing, which is associated with the Norteño street gang, but denied being involved with the gang. He suffered injuries including a ruptured spleen.
-9 p.m., Oct. 2: Jerry Devito, 31, of Gilroy was approached by a group of young men wearing blue, a color associated with the Sureño gang, outside Morgan Hill Bowl at Tennant Station. The men stabbed him 14 times, and Devito was transported to Saint Louise Regional Hospital.
-11:20 p.m., Oct. 2: Juan Jose Arellano, Jr., 24, was shot and killed outside an apartment complex at 17689 Crest Ave. His shooters, who have not been identified and used a 9mm hand gun, were allegedly wearing blue clothing.
-9:35 p.m., Oct. 6: Six to eight teens poured out of a mini-van and attacked a 27-year-old deaf and mute pedestrian with baseball bats and a knife near West Ninth and Monterey streets in Gilroy. The teens fled in the mini-van immediately following the attack.
-3:25 p.m. Oct. 15: Up to eight teenagers on a VTA bus leaving Live Oak High School were involved in a fist fight. Five of the teens were arrested when the bus stopped, and about three more, who were wearing blue, ran away before police could contact them.
-9:30 p.m. Oct. 27: A 17-year-old male was shot from a passing vehicle in a gang-related drive-by incident on Southgate Court in Gilroy. The teen was transported to the hospital by a witness to be treated for non-life threatening wounds.
-12:50 p.m.. Oct. 30: A fight between two students on Live Oak High School’s campus, 1505 East Main Ave., resulted in citations for seven teenage juveniles – five males and two females. Police and witnesses said the fight was gang related.
