Three teenagers were in police custody yesterday following several brawls at Cole Harbour District High School.
Halifax RCMP spokesman Cpl. Joe Taplin said officers arrested three students — two male and one female — for assault, uttering threats and breach of peace because of alleged involvement in a series of fights that took place outside the Chameau Crescent school after someone pulled a fire alarm.
Taplin said firefighters and police officers responded to the alarm at about 10:40 a.m. and received calls about the violence taking place in the parking lot and soccer field minutes later.
“Once members started arriving, the crowds seemed to disperse,” Taplin said. But not before a student threatened police, he said.
“When he was placed under arrest, the crowd started coming towards police,” Taplin said, adding that four or five ignored warnings forced officers to use pepper spray. He said those that were hit have been treated, while one person involved in the brawls was taken to Dartmouth General Hospital “for observation.”
Taplin said what happened at Cole Harbour looks a lot like the Auburn Drive High School fights last Friday, but it’s unlikely the two incidents are connected.
“There are a small number of people who thought they could get out of school,” Halifax Regional School Board spokesman Doug Hadley said. “The end result was a situation that got out of control.”
Stephane Sabourin, who lives across the street from the school, said he heard some Cole Harbour students wanted to copy their rivals at Auburn Drive.
“It’s very disappointing,” he said,“Because of a handful of bad apples, I’m thinking about moving.”
