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Faculty Assaulted During Gang Fight at Sullivan High School, Principal Says

By Benjamin Woodard | December 13, 2012 8:48am | Updated on December 13, 2012 3:15pm
 Anthony Andrews said he works for Chicago Public School as a security officer. He stood outside Sullivan High School, 6631 N. Bosworth, Wednesday as added security.
Anthony Andrews said he works for Chicago Public School as a security officer. He stood outside Sullivan High School, 6631 N. Bosworth, Wednesday as added security.
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DNAinfo/Benjamin Woodard

ROGERS PARK — Several faculty and staff members of Sullivan High School were assaulted last Friday as four fist fights broke out among members of two warring gangs, school officials said.

The "serious gang altercation" between Gangster Disciples and P-Stones forced the cancellation of the school's Winter Ball, which had been scheduled for last Friday, principal Carolyn Eggert said at a Local School Council meeting Tuesday.

By the end of the day, 15 students had been removed from the school, said Robyn Ziegler, a Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman.

The district was "continuing to investigate the matter," she said.

Police confirmed that officers responded to the school at 6631 N. Bosworth Ave.

 Sullivan High School, 6631 N.  Bosworth, has a reputation for being a "haven for gangs," but it's getting better, parents say.
Sullivan High School, 6631 N.  Bosworth, has a reputation for being a "haven for gangs," but it's getting better, parents say.
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DNAinfo/Benjamin Woodard

During one of the fights, which students tried to start in a bathroom, school employees were able to "move them into the hallway so we could video record them," Eggert said — an effort the principal lauded as a "small victory."

No weapons were used, she said.

The second-year principal said that despite Sullivan's reputation for being "a haven for gangs," only a small number of students cause the majority of problems.

Jim Jennings, who was picking up his daughter from school Wednesday, said he was surprised to hear of the violence.

"They have a new principal, and she has been great at getting rid of this stuff," said Jennings, a former Cook County state's attorney who said he had prosecuted students from Sullivan.

"I could tell the difference" now compared to a few years ago, he said.

Chicago Public Schools has called in additional security to control the unruly students.

"Coming to the North Side is like vacation," said school district security officer Anthony Andrews, who stood outside Sullivan Wednesday with three colleagues as school was dismissed for the day.

Andrews, who has been at Sullivan since Monday, said he's usually dispatched to West Side and South Side schools, where fights among students are bigger and more dangerous.

As students poured out of the school's front doors on North Bosworth Avenue Wednesday, school officials dispersed lingering groups.

Khattab Almanaseer, a 17-year-old junior, smoked a cigarette with his friends on the other side of the street. "I was there" during the fight on the second level of the school, he said. "They just started cracking each other."