On Friday, October 27, multiple violent altercations broke out across the campus during lunch.
An announcement sounded over the speakers, telling students to hurry into their sixth-period classes as campus aides ushered them through the halls. This confused and worried students as it was the very beginning of a long ten-minute passing period.
Speculations circulated as students attempted to explain the early end to lunch. Senior Robbie Kuhnen said, “I was a little confused when the announcement came out because I’d never seen staff react that way to a fight.”
Math teacher Steven Kryger described what he witnessed on Friday: “I was in my classroom, and then a number of students ran past my classroom towards Oak Grove Street, so I went out to see what was going on. I heard a couple of our AVPs and teachers trying to stop kids from running off campus when I got to the parking lot.”
Some students speculated that there was a gun involved in the alternation, as students spotted the arrival of several Atherton Police Department officers. Following unprecedented increase in gun presence on campus last year, the incident would have marked the third gun in two years on campus.
Administration has since denied the presence of firearms in an email to parents. Instead, they attribute the chaos to a panicked rush of students around and off campus.
Administrative Vice Principal (AVP) Nicholas Muys explained, “After one of the fights, some students involved ran. Anytime people see people running, it stirs up interest and, before long enough, a bunch of people are running not knowing why. We then made the announcement to go to classes because we just needed people inside and not running around.”
A few hours following the incident, Principal Karl Losekoot sent out an email notifying parents and students of the commotion in response to intensifying speculation. In his email, Losekoot stated that administration was still collecting information and assured that, “We will have increased district presence supervising on campus.”
