Wauwatosa East locked down after fights broke out

Wauwatosa East was locked down after fights broke out at the high school last week leading to three arrests for disorderly conduct.

According to Wauwatosa police:

Two students - a boy and girl - got into a "vulgar shouting match" in the school's learning center at 7:55 a.m. Sept. 27. She called the boy "a want to be gang member," which got him upset.

After several attempts to quiet them, they were pulled apart. Before running upstairs, the 15-year-old boy said "I'll show you who's fake. I'll pop all of you."

He than ran into another schoolmate, a 17-year-old Wauwatosa boy, and exchanged words about which gangs were stronger. The younger boy took off his jacket and backpack, pushed the older boy and challenged him to a fight.

School staff tried to intervene but the older boy started to get agitated and said he wanted to fight, but first he needed to find his 15-year-old brother. He started entering and exiting classrooms in search for his brother. When he found his sibling, they started hunting for the boy who had made the challenge.

At that point, the principal decided he needed to lock down the school. He alerted staff over the radio, and teachers started hauling kids into the classrooms and locking the doors. Staff did not immediately know what kind of problem was happening, which caused fear.

The brothers were able to look into classrooms but not gain access; they were stopped after that.

As they were taken to the principal's office, staff learned they had called their mother and she had arrived at the school. She took her sons home, but was notified they would be cited for disorderly conduct.

The lockdown lasted about 10 minutes and parents received a phone call alerting them of the incident.