A video with more than 19,000 views posted to Facebook Tuesday evening shows a small portion of an altercation involving roughly 20 teenagers and several adults at Abbott Loop Elementary School.
The Anchorage Police Department said teenagers arranged a fight outside the school late Tuesday afternoon. Shortly after 5:30 p.m., APD received a call that two teens had gotten into a fist fight and as many as 20 others were looking on. One 15-year-old boy pulled out a shotgun and left the scene. Police arrived, set up a perimeter and arrested him a short time later.
It happened as parents were preparing to pick up their children from a summer camp program.
The viral video, shot by Kristal Stewart, shows teens arguing with parents and repeatedly yelling expletives.
“I told them, ‘Go home. You guys are fighting at an elementary school on the playground. You guys are yelling really bad words 15 feet away from little kids,’” said Josh Stewart, Kristal Stewart’s husband who also witnessed the fight.
Stewart said he was trying to deescalate the situation, but the teens wouldn’t listen. He added that the teenagers had little respect for the nearby adults.
“I’ve hit my quota for the year on how many times I was called the N-word,” Josh Stewart said.
APD said the only person charged was the 15-year-old who brandished a gun. He was charged with two counts of weapons misconduct and is being held at the McLaughlin Youth Center. However, several other teens were put in handcuffs.
“They were challenging toward police and also involved in the incident. Once we got them away from the crowd, they actually became apologetic for their behavior [and] explained their role in it,” said APD spokesperson Renee Oistad. “They ended up not committing any crimes and so they were let go without any charges.”
Oistad said some of the teens were frustrating officers because they aggravated the situation instead of walking away.
“More people could have found themselves with charges against them pretty easily if the situation continued,” she said, stating parents should talk to their kids about staying out of trouble during the summer. “This would be a good opportunity for not only juveniles to take a step back and think about their behavior, but for parents to get involved, too. Know where your kid is and have this discussion with them.”
KTVA 11′s Eric Ruble can be reached via email or on Facebook and Twitter.
