Hundreds in Racial Melee at Locke High

A racially motivated melee involving hundreds of black and Latino students erupted at Locke High School on Thursday, the apparent culmination of several days of tension over a stolen can of soda.

At least 50 police officers were called to the South-Central Los Angeles campus and a few arrests were made. No serious injuries were reported, although some students were beaten by others and one boy jumped out of a second-story window to escape his pursuers.

The fighting erupted at lunchtime among several hundred students who taunted and accosted one another, running through the school. The campus was locked down for two class periods. After school was dismissed for the day, teachers, as well as police in riot helmets, had to pull apart students who were eager to continue the confrontation in the streets, which were blocked to traffic.

Panicked parents raced to campus after hearing news reports of the fighting. One woman, in tears, begged police to let her to go the day-care center across the street from the high school to retrieve her 3-year-old daughter.

An irate mother said her 14-year-daughter was jumped by 15 people during lunch and then pepper-sprayed by police while trying to call her from a pay phone.

Teachers said friction had been building since Tuesday when an African American teenager stole a soda from a Latino student at lunch. A scuffle ensued between black and Latino athletes and periodic fights have broken out since, escalating Thursday into a mob scene.

Locke Principal Annie Webb attributed the disturbances to newly enrolled troublemakers, whom she vowed to weed out. “We’re not going to let a few kids ruin our reputation,” she said as she scanned the sidewalks for fighting as students left for home.

The student body of 1,800 is almost equally divided between Latinos and African Americans.

Some teachers said lingering tension between the two groups was accentuated this month because February is black history month. “The resentment just seems to grow,” an English teacher said.