Burbank, Lutheran Highs : 2-School Rumble Tightens Security

Burbank High School officials tightened campus security Thursday in response to a 40-student confrontation at a Burbank municipal park Wednesday that prompted the arrest of 12 students from Burbank and Los Angeles Lutheran high schools.

One student from Burbank High and 11 from Los Angeles Lutheran, a private school in Burbank, were arrested for possession of weapons after they gathered for a “scheduled fight” at Brace Canyon Park, police said.

Burbank police confiscated a shotgun, a revolver and several clubs and baseball bats after being tipped off about plans for the fight by students and neighbors near the park, Lt. Gordon Bowers said.

No One Injured

No one was injured in the incident, but a shotgun blast shattered a car window when the gun accidently fired, police said. The arrested students, who range in age from 14 to 18, were released to relatives, Bowers said.

Hallway patrols at Burbank High were increased, and administrative and clerical staffs were told to be on the alert for intruders at the 1,400-student school, according to Principal William Bertrand.

Teachers also were issued a bulletin to forward any information about the confrontation to administrators, he said. No incidents were reported Thursday at either school.

“I was shocked and very disappointed,” Bertrand said. “We do not have that kind of reputation.”

Bertrand said he will address the school at an assembly next week to let them know that “I do not condone this type of behavior.”

The confrontation at Brace Canyon Park apparently was called by students to settle a dispute between several of them that began at a local convenience store last week, police and school officials said. Police said they do not know the details of the dispute, but they said the incidents are not gang-related.

No Charges Filed Yet

The Burbank student, who allegedly was carrying the shotgun that fired, was arrested for possessing a loaded weapon, police said. All 11 Lutheran students were arrested for conspiracy to commit assault with a deadly weapon. Bowers said investigators had not decided whether to formally charge the students.

Police said the students gathered at the park during a lunch break but dispersed when the Lutheran students unveiled the revolver and baseball bats. The group reassembled when the Burbank students returned, this time wielding the shotgun, police said. All of the students fled when the shotgun blast shattered the windshield, police said.

The 11 Lutheran students were arrested about six blocks from the park as they fled in a station wagon, police said.

Lutheran Principal Alfred Roth disputed the police report, however, saying it was unclear which group of students first produced a weapon. “I am disappointed that it says it was all our doing,” Roth said of the police account. “They arrested 11 of our people and just one from Burbank. The shotgun was not ours; the shooting was not done by our boys. Two of our boys said they took the shotgun away from that lad.”

Police said they arrested only students with weapons.

Six of the Lutheran students are members of the school’s varsity basketball team and apparently became involved in the incident just before a practice, officials said.

Roth said that all 11 students were suspended from school on Thursday but that suspensions for all but one of them would be lifted today. The 10 students will be placed on “behavior probation,” which will enable them to attend classes, he said.

Roth said no extra security measures had been instituted at the 550-student school.

Cedric Bailey, 18, a Lutheran senior and the only adult among those arrested, will remain on indefinite suspension pending the completion of an investigation into the incident, Roth said. Roth said Lutheran administrators had been in contact with officials from Burbank High in an effort “to work toward a resolution of tensions.”

It was unclear if Bailey, a star on the undefeated Lutheran basketball team, would be permitted to play in tonight’s game against Montclair Prep. The five others will play tonight. The Lutheran team finished as Southern Section 1-A champions last year.