2 teens charged after fight involving pepper spray at Pittsburgh's Allderdice High School

Two teenagers face charges stemming from a fight involving pepper spray at a Pittsburgh high school, district officials said.

The incident happened Thursday at Allderdice High School in the city’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood.

An 18-year-old was allegedly involved in a fight with five other students, during which the 18-year-old discharged pepper spray, said Pittsburgh Public Schools spokeswoman Ebony Pugh. He and another 18-year-old, who Pugh said did not participate in the fight, are charged with trespassing.

Neither of the teenagers facing charges are students in the district. The five students involved in the altercation are Allderdice students, Pugh said.

The fight, the latest in a string of violent incidents in Pittsburgh schools, came the same day the interim superintendent Wayne Walters released a statement refuting “a narrative that Pittsburgh Public Schools is a violent place.”

“Last week was difficult for Pittsburgh Public Schools,” Walters said, “but most notably for the two school communities directly impacted by violent events.”

Wednesday marked one week since a 15-year-old boy was gunned down as he sat in a school van outside Oliver Citywide Academy on the North Side. Marquis Campbell and the driver were the only ones in the van at the time of the Jan. 19 shooting. The driver was not injured, and no charges have been filed in the incident.

Two days later, a student at Brashear High School in Beechview was hospitalized during a fight with another student. It was allegedly the fourth incident between the two, and 18-year-old Quincey Garland is charged with aggravated assault. Police allege and video slows a student identified as Garland slamming the other boy headfirst onto the floor and then stomping his head.

The following Monday, Brashear principal Kimberly Safran was placed on paid, non-disciplinary administrative leave pending a “district review of last Friday’s incident.”

“Even while we take this time to grieve, we remain hyper-focused on our core purpose to provide a high-quality education to the students we serve,” Walters said, acknowledging the “the many challenges that school districts are facing across the country.”

The idea that the district is a violent one, he said, is not true.

“The tragedies of last week are not who we are,” he said, “and certainly not representative of our district.”

Related:

• Brashear student charged in alleged assault that left fellow student hospitalized
• Police continue search for suspects in killing of Pittsburgh high school student