Two students were hospitalized with stab wounds after a large brawl at Van Nuys High School Wednesday morning, officials said.
The violence unfolded around 11 a.m. in the school’s quad area and involved around 11 students.
“As a result of that incident at least one student produced, what is at this point, an unidentified weapon … and stabbed two students,” Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, said at a news conference. “Those two students have been transported to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.
Two other students were hospitalized with other injuries while a fifth was treated at the scene.
Police say three students were detained in connection with the brawl and stabbing, which witnesses believe may have been gang-related.
The school was placed on lockdown for much of the day and eventually, classes ended around 3:30 p.m.
Carvalho said the police response was swift but was hampered by a relatively new policy that doesn’t allow L.A. School Police on campuses within the LAPD district.
That policy, he says, will change immediately.
“As of today, Van Nuys will have the presence of an officer within its school facilities.”