A high school graduation for more than 100 Los Angeles County teenagers, including nearly 30 on probation, turned chaotic when a massive brawl broke out, disrupting what should have been a celebratory event. The incident occurred on Thursday at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles, where the students gathered for their graduation ceremony.
The trouble began when a community member reportedly leaped over a second-story balcony to assault one of the graduates. Brianna Valdez, a witness, had just walked the stage when the chaos erupted. “Kids from an alternative education school and probation started fighting,” Valdez told Fox LA. “Girls were fighting, guys were fighting. I was really scared. It’s like we’re here for a happy moment, and it’s ruined with gang activity.”
As the ceremony concluded and students and their families began to leave around 5 p.m., the situation escalated further. Gunshots were reported outside the Concert Hall, causing widespread panic. Raul Valdez, another witness, described the terrifying scene: “We were coming out of the ceremony, and there was a car on the other side. We just saw shooting and saw the smoke and everything, and everybody just got down on the ground.”
The violence outside the hall was intense, with people scrambling for cover. One witness recounted seeing someone throw his mother to the ground to shield her, yelling, “Mom, get down, they’re shooting.” Javonte Jamison also reported seeing a person bleeding outside, having just been involved in a fight. “You could see the gun smoke, gun shells hitting the floor, and then they just kind of peeled out,” he said.
The motive behind the brawl and whether the shooting was related remain unclear. However, the Los Angeles County Probation Department stated that all 29 of its graduates had already exited the auditorium and were in a secure holding area before the violence began. “All detained probation youth had already exited the auditorium and were placed in a secure holding area prior to the incident occurring,” the department said in a statement. “The Probation Special Enforcement Operations Unit quickly responded, containing the incident and restoring order inside the auditorium.”
Fortunately, no injuries were reported from the incident, and four individuals were detained following the altercation. Their identities and the charges against them have not been disclosed.
