Police warned before fight involving parent near Aurora high school

Police were warned that a fight was going to happen but were unable to stop a brawl involving a parent that erupted near an Aurora high school on Friday afternoon.

York regional police said Tuesday that while officers attended Cardinal Carter Catholic High School, they did not see any evidence of a fight.

The fight took place at Briar Nine Park near Cardinal Carter around 3 p.m. on Friday. It was captured on video. The videos were first shown in a CityNews exclusive on Monday.

Four students from that video have now been identified, York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB) spokesperson Sonia Gallo said Tuesday. Those four students have been asked to stay home, but are not suspended, after the fight.

Police said Tuesday that they believe a student from Cardinal Carter and a student from St. Theresa Lisieux Catholic High School were involved in the fight.

Gallo said that the parent involved in the fight is the father of a Cardinal Carter student, and his son is one of the four who have been asked to stay home. To her knowledge, the child is not a victim of bullying.

At least two videos of the fight have since surfaced online.

One of the videos shows two teens exchanging punches while the parent and other teens surround them. When a student starts to taunt the parent, he appears to throw a punch at the teen, sparking a secondary scuffle.

A second video shows a group of youths surrounding the same parent, first in a wooded area, and then on a residential street where they swarm him with kicks and punches. By the time the attack is finished the man is bleeding from the face and appears disoriented as he gets into a parked vehicle.

Once the video surfaced, the school board called police, Gallo said.

“Our jurisdiction is only with the students in the school, not the parent, and YRP is conducting their investigation as well,” Gallo said.

Police said charges could be laid, and are asking anyone who witnessed the fight or has information on the events leading up to the fight to contact them.

Students can also speak with school resource officers who are at both high schools.

In a statement released on Monday, the YCDSB said the fight occurred off school property. It acknowledged the presence of a parent, but didn’t elaborate on how or why the adult male may have became involved in the violence.

Gallo said school administration saw a group of students head towards a park after school hours and that staff did not know there was a fight planned.

“When administration arrived at the park, students dispersed and some drove away in their vehicles,” Gallo said. “All indications were that the gathering had been diffused.”

If staff had known about a fight, Gallo said they would have addressed the students involved, and called police.

Police said that at the time of the fight, officers were also investigating a stabbing at another nearby school. However, police said the two events are not related.