School lets out early after fights at Modesto’s Davis High

Multiple fights during a lunch period at Davis High late Wednesday morning brought several police units and two ambulances to the school but resulted in just minor injuries, police said.

When officers responded to the campus at Tully and Rumble roads, they found separate fights in a few areas of the quad, said Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Heather Graves. The quad was packed because students were on lunch, Graves said, which made it difficult for officers to secure the scene.

Two students were treated for minor injuries, Graves said, and two other students were detained by officers. Officers talked with a number of students about what happened. No weapons were involved in the fights, she said, and the injured students were being assessed at the school and did not require medical transport.

Davis staff members called 911 at 11:49 a.m. to report the fighting, and police responded within five minutes and quickly had the campus under control, said Modesto City Schools spokeswoman Becky Fortuna.

She said she had no information on what led to the fights.

Police put the school on lockdown as a precautionary measure, Fortuna said, and the school implemented a “controlled early release” of students. First dismissed were students who ride school buses, then remaining students were released by classroom.

Graves said she also had no information on what started the fights.

Police remained in patrol cars and on motorcycles around the school during the release, and administrators admonished students who were hanging around on campus that they needed to go home.

After the fight, Davis had sent out an automated call to students’ families. Students also were calling home, telling parents what they saw or heard, letting them know school was ending early and, in some cases, asking to be picked up.

Between the fight and the time school let out, though, parents steadily were calling the Davis office to ask about their children. Office workers assured them all students were in their classrooms and safe.

A Modesto Police Department post on its Facebook page laid out the basic facts and got a lot of response from Davis families and others.

“We are here waiting for our students to be released,” commented Arreola Anguiano. “Thank God it wasn’t worse. This is a parent’s worse nightmare.”

Liz Torres posted, “For no weapons, my kid and plenty others sure saw a lot of blood.”

Others said they didn’t believe the report that no weapons were involved and called for the “real story.”

There were a lot of secondhand reports on social media, and a few videos posted, such as on Twitter at #DavisRiots2015.

About a dozen students approached by The Bee as they were getting out of school said they did not witness the day’s fighting.

This story was originally published May 20, 2015 at 12:35 PM with the headline "School lets out early after fights at Modesto’s Davis High."