Parents outraged over fights involving guns at Staten Island high school
STATEN ISLAND, New York (WABC) -- A series of fights involving guns at a high school on Staten Island has left parents on edge.
There was a police car outside Susan E. Wagner High School Monday night as the basketball game finished to prevent another terrible scene which erupted two days in a row this week at dismissal.
A video which has spread on social media and around the school community, is being used by detectives in their investigation
"I'm picking up my son at basketball game tonight. No way I'm letting him go home on the bus, anything like that," father Willis McNair said.
The McNairs went to talk to the administration on Tuesday about the fights that erupted yesterday, where two boys were attacked.
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The most chilling part, video shows what looks like a handgun drawn on one of the boys.
Little did the McNairs know that shortly leaving this high school in the Sea View section of Staten Island today, another fight would break out during dismissal.
"And my son calls me from school and says 'Mom, they have us on lock down.' What do you mean? I just left there," mother Michelle McNair said.
Police report they arrested three minors on Tuesday and recovered a weapon. It's not clear if it was actually fired.
Two months ago, another fight involving young girls spilled into the halls and escalated. Police arrested a 13-year-old girl then and tell us she was carrying a knife.
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As for the back-to-back fights yesterday and today, the Department of Education responded to the arrests with this assurance:
"At no point was anyone on campus in danger."
"My heart was broken. That's how I left. I was in a panic. I shouldn't have to worry about my son's safety in school," Michelle McNair said.
Many here are angry that not enough is being done to stem the violence and keep weapons out of school.
Parents complain there are no metal detectors here.
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