Student Shot Outside School; Melee Erupts on Another Campus

A 17-year-old student was shot and seriously wounded at San Fernando High School in Pacoima on Thursday, just hours after violence broke out at Grant High in Van Nuys in an ethnically motivated melee involving about 200 students.

In San Fernando, the senior was shot about 2:40 p.m. just outside the school’s child care center. He was in serious condition Thursday night at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center.

Hours later, Los Angeles police arrested three 16-year-old boys, who were expected to be booked on suspicion of attempted murder.

Police said several shots were fired after the teenager was approached by youths walking nearby. He was hit once, apparently in the left side, witnesses said.

Two hours earlier at Grant High, long-standing tension between Armenian and Latino students erupted during lunchtime, with more than 200 students yelling, pushing and throwing objects.

No one was seriously hurt, police and school officials said, but 10 students, teachers and a maintenance worker suffered minor injuries. Police arrested two students, whose names were not released. Officials said the girl who was arrested had a knife concealed in her bra. A boy was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon for wielding a trash can.

Police and school officials said there was no evidence of shots being fired or bricks being thrown, as some students claimed.

The melee began about 12:45 p.m. on the campus quad, an open area with benches. Police said a fight between a few students escalated when onlookers began shoving, yelling and ignoring administrators’ pleas to return to class. Students also threw bottles and trash cans, school officials said.

About 15 police officers wearing helmets broke up the disturbance and ordered students back to class.

“No one was obeying the rules or cooperating with administrators,” said Sgt. Steve Nassief of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Administrators ordered a lock-down, meaning that no one could enter or leave the 3,320-student campus, and police remained at the school until students were dismissed.

For more than a decade, school officials said, they have tried to ease tensions between Armenian and Latino students with conflict resolution programs, group mediation, peer counselors and teacher training.

“It’s a traditional thing that we as faculty and community have to address,” Principal Joe Walker said of the frictions between students of Armenian and Latino heritage. “We have to break this tradition.”

In 1994, two Armenian boys were stabbed during a fight outside the school and, later on the same day, a 16-year-old Latino was wounded in the calf during a drive-by shooting.

On Thursday, students said tensions have been simmering for a few days after altercations between Latino and Armenian students, culminating in an Armenian boy striking a Latino girl.

Security at both high schools will be increased today, and crisis counselors will be available. Grant officials also will evaluate possible disciplinary action.

At San Fernando High, about half a dozen parents were prevented from entering the child care area to pick up their children after the shooting. Some cried until they saw that their children were safe.

Rodney Cash said he had been teaching a cultural awareness class in a bungalow next to the shooting when a young man ran into the room and shouted, “Someone has been shot!”

After trying to calm his students, Cash ran outside, but the attackers had fled.

Principal Philip Saldivar and police indicated that the shooting appeared to be gang-related.

Vanessa Gomez, 17, a classmate of the victim, said, “He’s a good guy. He’s not in a gang. He’s a really good student.”

Times staff writers Andrew Blankstein, Martha L. Willman and Irene Garcia contributed to this story.