School Officer Given High Marks

A Los Angeles Unified School District policeman was praised as a hero Friday for preventing a gang fight and shooting outside Cleveland High School from injuring more people.

The school principal and the chief of the LAUSD police force said that 27-year-old Shane Stewart helped break up the brawl outside the school on Thursday without firing his own weapon, probably saving others from injury.

“He took everything into consideration in a split second,” said Cleveland High Principal Al Weiner. “In my book, he’s a hero.”

A 17-year-old Cleveland High student was recuperating at home after suffering gunshot wounds to his hip and forearm. Another 17-year-old boy was nursing head injuries after being repeatedly hit with a blunt object.

Police held three suspected gang members--Jose Hernandez, 20, of Reseda, and Robert Pulido and Louie Cardenas, both 19 from Van Nuys--on suspicion of attempted murder, said Los Angeles Police Department Det. Dave Szabo. A fourth man, also believed to be a gang member, was being sought in connection with the shooting.

The suspects thought the 17-year-olds were members of a rival gang, said LAPD Det. Robert Eisenhart. Initially, police said it appeared the injured teens were gang members, but detectives said Friday that remained unclear, and noted that the injured youths had denied belonging to one.

Szabo said the suspects were members of the Bryant Street gang, whose turf is near the school. “My understanding is that Bryant Street gang members asked the victims where they were from,” Szabo said. “And the victims said something to the effect that they weren’t from anywhere, that they weren’t affiliated with any gang.”

Campus Returns to Normal

A day after the shooting, school officials and students were unfazed by the incident, calling it atypical of the humanities magnet campus. But about 280 students were absent Friday, double the usual rate, Weiner said.

As a precaution, the 2,800-student campus employed additional patrols, including two LAUSD bicycle officers and two police cars. Crisis counselors were on hand, but just two students showed up, Weiner said.

Before gunfire broke out Thursday, Cleveland High was in its usual hectic transition between the end of school and the start of after-school activities.

Students were rushing home, parents were pulling into the parking lot to pick up their children, athletic fields were filling up with sports teams. And Stewart, who has been an LAUSD officer for just over a year, was wrapping up a routine patrol of the campus.

Suddenly, he noticed a group of young men brawling across the street. Then shots rang out.

Stewart ran into the middle of Vanalden Avenue, pulling his gun from his holster and aiming it at the attackers, who were directly in his line of fire. “Police! Freeze!” he yelled.

At that moment, Stewart had but an instant to decide what to do next.

“I felt there were too many kids around,” he said. “What if I missed, or the bullet could ricochet, or he could return fire?”

Fortunately, authorities said, Stewart chose restraint and called for LAPD backup, probably saving lives and helping to nab several suspected gang members.

LAUSD Police Chief Wesley Mitchell praised him as an officer who “made the choice not to escalate the situation, but to de-escalate it.” School officers, he said, are chosen for their ability to work with children and communities, not because they “are anxious to put on a badge.”

Stewart, an aw-shucks kind of guy whom officials describe as a father figure to students, downplayed his role.

“To me, I did what I was trained to do,” said the brown-haired, green-eyed officer whose open-door policy often has teens opening up about problems with grades, friends and families.

Molly Farooqi, 16, said she wasn’t “worried at all” about safety at Cleveland High. “You should talk to our officer,” she gushed about the popular Stewart. “We have a really great one.”

After Stewart opted not to shoot, the suspects ran and Stewart chased them for about a block. His main goal, he said, was to get a good description of the suspects for other officers.

Later, when he returned to check on any possible victims, a third student had already driven the two injured boys to a local hospital.

Officer Glad He Held Fire

Stewart, who is married and a soon-to-be father, said his job at Cleveland High is usually more about counseling than policing.

He said he had replayed the shooting in his mind. There were so many students, neighbors and parents nearby, his decision, he said, was clear.

“And I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” Stewart said. “I was worried about the kids.”