http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-brawl05.htmlKids go on playground rampage, 18 injuredApril 5, 2002 BY CARLOS SADOVI AND ROSALIND ROSSI STAFF REPORTERSBad blood stemming from a Halloween egg-throwing incident boiled over Thursday into a playground melee involving dozens of students from two Far South Side elementary schools.
Although police downplayed it, nearly two dozen kids were arrested and 18 were injured in the free-for-all--including at least one second-grader.
"They knocked me down and then started stomping on me and then hit me with a bat,'' fifth-grader Morgan Guice recalled after spending hours in a nearby hospital. "It was bad.''
As children pounded on locked doors of the Songhai Learning Institute around 8:30 a.m., young students from the nearby Curtis Elementary School stormed the playground--according to some Songhai students, they were clutching baseball bats, two-by-fours, pipes and rocks--and began beating the Songhai kids.
Eighteen were sent to hospitals, and 23 Curtis children were arrested and charged as juveniles with mob action, authorities said.
The Curtis students, whose building is about six blocks away, ranged from 10 to 14 years old. They included boys carrying heavy book bags and girls wearing frilly pink coats.
"One of my friends jumped over the gate and said, 'Here come the Curtis kids!'" said Songhai seventh-grader Gregory Napier.
Songhai fifth-grader Travis Sims suffered a fractured left ankle and torn ligaments when he was struck with a metal pipe by a Curtis student, according to the 11-year-old boy and his family.
The previous day, Travis and another classmate were chased and hit with a brick by a group of about 10 Curtis students who were seeking revenge for their school getting marked with graffiti touting Songhai, the boy said.
Referring to Thursday's attack, Travis said: "I was playing when a whole bunch of kids came with poles and stuff. I saw a whole bunch, like 50 kids, with two-by-fours and pipes.''
Morgan Guice was hit in the back with a baseball bat as he tried to get in the school doors, which were locked because school wasn't scheduled to start for another 10 minutes.
His mother, Roshawn Moore, said school officials should have stopped the fight and responded more quickly.
Witnesses said teachers rushed to the playground but that it took police to stop the melee.
First Deputy Police Supt. John Thomas downplayed the incident, saying that all officers recovered were half of a broken baseball bat and a stick.
The most serious injuries involved a student who suffered a fractured nose and another who was scratched on his arms and legs, Thomas said.
About two dozen parents of Curtis students were at the Calumet police station Thursday afternoon, sitting on floors, leaning against window ledges and pacing as they waited for word about their children.
Security guards took the students out of classes--the school is at 32 E. 115th St.--and police brought them to the station for questioning.
Jackie Coleman said she was notified by police at 12:30 p.m. that her three children, who are Curtis students, were all in police custody. They had been rounded up by a school security guard, but police prevented her from speaking with them until four hours later, when they were released, she said. Her 14-year-old son was picked out of a lineup by a Songhai teacher who saw him wield a baseball bat, Coleman said. The boy denied the accusation.
"I think it's a bunch of bull; they have a lineup and don't let me see my children,'' the mother said.
Students and parents traced Thursday's melee to last Halloween, when Curtis students tried to crash a party at Songhai, 11725 S. Perry, and attacked it with eggs.
A November basketball game that Songhai won also fueled the bad blood.
School officials and police plan to provide extra security at both schools today and next week if needed.
But many parents said they intend to keep their children home for their safety.
"It's a big, big, big mess," Songhai parent Nicole Jackson said as she picked up her 7-year-old daughter, Jasmin, from school.
"I feel right now they should be in school learning. This should be taken care of immediately. Kids should not be afraid to leave or come to school.''
Contributing: Chris Fusco, Lucio Guerrero, Curtis Lawrence and Frank Main
