The Stearns County Attorney’s office says the students — ranging in age from 14 to 17 — have all been charged with either second- are third-degree riot. One 16-year-old student was also charged with making terrorist threats and possessing a dangerous weapon on school property, which authorities identified as a knife. Four other students — one 15-year-old and three 17-year-olds — also face third-degree aiding and abetting assault.
(credit: CBS)
The melee, which police described as “several large fights,” broke out last Wednesday at about noon. Twenty St. Cloud police officers responded to the school to quell the violence. Police say one student suffered a broken nose.
Officials from St. Cloud Area School District 742 say the 19 students, who are all from St. Cloud, will not be allowed back for the rest of the school year. Some of them may also face expulsion.