6 Students Arrested After Fight at Ferndale Digital Learning Center

Six students were arrested after a fight Wednesday afternoon outside Ferndale's Digital Learning Center.

Around 1:20 p.m., the liaison officer at the new alternative high school and the liaison officer from Ferndale High School responded to a fight near the Gardendale Street entrance of the school, said Ferndale Police Chief Tim Collins.

According to Stephanie Hall, Ferndale Schools spokesperson, the fight started with two students and three more joined in. Collins said about 20 students were surrounding the fight when officers arrived.

A Taser was used on one of the students after a school resource officer was pushed to the ground as the two students tried to get at each other, Collins said.

The other students arrested during the incident had been "verbally participating" and would not calm down, Collins said.

"Once the young man was subdued with the Taser no one else wanted to mess around so much, at least physically," Collins said. "In the long run it probably saved those kids from hurting each other and any police officers from getting hurt."

There were five students arrested after incident, including three 18-year-old males and two 17-year-old males. An 18-year-old female was also arrested after the fight for behavior unrelated to the incident. Charges are currently being reviewed by the prosecutor's office.

Collins said police are meeting next week with school staff and administration to discuss security at the Digital Learning Center. "We want to make sure that everybody's on the same page. We're working very closely with the administration," he said.

"We continually work with our staff and with the police on responding to school incidents," Hall said.

Before the fight on Wednesday, four students were sent home from the school, Collins said. These students were not involved in the fight and did not return to the school that day, he said.