Lockdowns, Student Arrests, and Weapons Confiscations Cap Weeks of School Violence

More than a week of fights videotaped on public school campuses peaked Thursday with the lockdown of Charlotte Amalie High School and the arrest of three students – all minors – at the St. Croix Educational Complex. Police refuted reports that a parent had also been arrested, saying they had instead been detained and escorted off-site.

CAHS was reopened before noon Thursday after school monitors and administrators searched students’ backpacks and bags following reports of a threat made the night before. Where the reports originated isn’t clear, but V.I. Police Department officials said it was widespread enough to have evoked fear in other students, who videotaped themselves saying they didn’t want to come to school the next day at the risk of being shot.

Education officials also said that the CAHS administration remained on high alert Wednesday night through Thursday, as the threat circulated over social media, and requested the presence of VIPD on patrol and at the gate while the campus was locked down until 10 a.m.

Knives and other contraband were confiscated as a result of the search, and Police Commissioner Ray Martinez said that the threat, though still unconfirmed, was taken seriously in the wake of other student arrests made on St. Thomas over the past week. Increased police presence will continue at CAHS and other school campuses as a safeguard, he added.

Meanwhile, videos circulated Thursday of another fight at Complex on St. Croix, which resulted in the arrest of three minors – two males and a female in the ninth and tenth grades. The students were charged with simple assault and battery, along with disturbance of the peace, according to police.

What’s fueling the fights is the subject of speculation, though VIPD said that in the break from in-person classes, there were back-and-forths between students that escalated once they came in close proximity to one another on campus.