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It’s a ‘revenge thing,’ student says of fight that sparked lockdown

An Eastview Middle School student says Tuesday’s fight that resulted in a lockdown was about revenge.
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Photo by Mamta Lulla/Advocate staff Eastview Middle School in Red Deer was in lockdown Tuesday afternoon. Students at the Red Deer school were let go classroom by classroom.

An Eastview Middle School student says Tuesday’s fight that resulted in a lockdown was about revenge.

The Grade 8 student, who the Advocate has chosen not to identify, heard at around 8:50 a.m. Tuesday that a fight was going to take place later in the day. But he didn’t believe it.

The fight was a follow up from a brawl that occurred Monday after school, he explained Wednesday.

An RCMP spokesperson confirmed the Tuesday lockdown was as a result of a fight that occurred Monday.

The student said at least one outsider was “belting” a Grade 8 student from Eastview on Monday. This followed a bigger conflict between two groups — students from Eastview and outsiders — each trying to save their own.

“More people jumped in, so it was a giant brawl,” he said about Monday’s fight.

“The kids (outsiders) ended up getting badly hurt – (especially) that one kid (the one who was belting).

“The next day, there was news in a group chat that kids from (an) outreach school were going to come after them, and they said they were going to jump him (the student who was belted on Monday) and we didn’t really believe it.

“We didn’t really think anything of it until we heard there were actual people inside our school.”

“So it just escalated,” the student said.

“If you think about it, it was almost like a revenge thing, like they wanted payback.”

Police did not confirm whether there was another school involved in Monday’s fight.

The 14-year-old student stayed home from school Wednesday – something the family decided, his mom Lisa said.

The mother is concerned about her son, who may “fixate” on such an incident.

The student said he was in lockdown in school for about two and a half hours before he was released.

“I feel frustrated and nervous,” he said, noting exams are just around the corner, and text messages are being circulated that say the outsiders may come back.

“Everyone is shaken by it. We have finals coming up next week and we’re losing a whole bunch of study time for this,” he said.

Red Deer Public School District provided updates during the lockdown, but parents haven’t had closure since the incident, said the Red Deer mom.

“I didn’t feel there was guaranteed closure from the incident… the last email notified ‘we’re releasing the classes now,’ but that didn’t finalize the story for me,” said the mom, adding she wants to hear more about the incident and be assured it’s safe for students to return.

Police said Wednesday afternoon that it’s safe for students to go back to school.

Two of three suspects have been charged since the lockdown Tuesday. The duo are 16 and 17 from Red Deer. Police continue to investigate and look for a 15-year-old who is still at large.



mamta.lulla@reddeeradvocate.com

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