Taylor High School Brawls Leave Four Students Arrested and Parents Seeking Answers

Four students have been arrested after two separate fights at Taylor High School this week, and police also detained three men found with illegally possessed weapons in connection with the unrest. The incidents have left some parents asking pointed questions about safety inside the building.

Videos shared on social media show large groups of students joining in the fights in school hallways. The first fight took place on Monday. Taylor Police Lt. Josh Schneider said two male students were arrested and released to their parents. They could face misdemeanor charges, though Schneider said no charges have yet been sent to the prosecutor's office. School Resource Officer David Denlar said around five or six students were suspended over the Monday fight.

Later that evening, at about 11 p.m., police were called to the area of Van Born and Beech Daly over a suspicious vehicle. Officers arrested three men, all roughly 18 to 19 years old, including two former students. They were found in a car with four illegally possessed weapons, one of them an automatic weapon. One of the weapons had been reported stolen.

Police said one of the men claimed they were friends with a student involved in the earlier fight, and that the student had been threatened and had asked them to come to his house. The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office declined to authorize charges against any of the three, and they have been released.

A second, separate fight on Tuesday involved female students. Two were arrested and released, and Schneider said they could also face misdemeanor charges. At least four students were suspended after that incident.

Parent Wendy Mitchell, whose son is a senior at the school, said the videos stoked fears that went beyond the fights themselves. "Is my son really safe? Are one of these kids going to pull out a gun? Are one of these kids going to pull out a knife?" she said. Mitchell said her son was warned by school officials that he could be suspended for posting fight videos online, a response she felt missed the point. She said she wants the school to be more open about how it is protecting students.

In a letter to parents on Wednesday, Principal Daniel Berry warned that behavior after a physical altercation can be as dangerous as the altercation itself. "Threats, text messages, social media posts, online harassment, and continued exchanges between students can reignite conflicts and cause situations to escalate long after the initial incident has ended," Berry wrote. He noted that police were present during one incident to help contain it, and asked parents to reinforce expectations around conflict resolution and to have students report threats or planned fights to an adult or school official.

Berry also cautioned that cyberbullying, harassment, threats and the sharing of videos that violate others' privacy could lead to discipline, even when the behavior happens off school grounds through text messages or social media.

Denlar said the school has security staff in addition to himself, including two district-employed guards and four hired through a private security company. Superintendent Michael Wegher said he could not offer more details beyond what was in Berry's letter. Anyone with information about a credible threat or a potential altercation is asked to contact the school directly, and according to the letter, all reports will remain confidential.