Vista High School’s principal announced Thursday the cancellation of Friday's varsity football game and after-school activities as an investigation into an alleged incident in the football team’s locker room continues.
In a statement to families, Principal David Jaffe said the decision to cancel the game was “a result of the behavior at the protest last evening.”
The protests were in response to an alleged locker room assault involving football players that led to suspensions and discipline for some coaches, and was followed by a school shooting threat made by a player accused in the assault.
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At the protest Wednesday, tempers nearly boiled over when a driver, who witnesses described as a football player, drove into the school parking lot near the protest. The crowd of demonstrators quickly surrounded his car and appeared to hit or kick his vehicle while he stayed inside.
In a letter to parents acknowledging the protest, Principal Jaffe said there will be an increased law enforcement presence on campus through the end of the week.
Principal Jaffe said while working in consultation with a third-party investigator and the Vista Sheriff's Department, the school is continuing to investigate the protest incident, the disturbing social media posts regarding school safety issues and the locker room incident.
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"This will be ongoing in the coming days," stated Jaffe in the statement.
Footage of the alleged assault, which happened around two weeks ago, circulated on social media and led to rumors spreading across the school community. It shows student-athletes picking up a 14-year-old and carrying him into a room in the locker room and pushing him to the ground.
The locker room incident was first reported to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department as a sexual assault, according to the department, but deputies say the alleged victim, a freshman, never made any sexual assault claims.
The varsity head coach was put on leave while the SDSO, the Vista Unified School District and a third-party investigator look into the incident, according to Superintendent Matt Doyle. A freshman coach who was responsible for supervising the players in the locker room was fired, Doyle added.
Doyle told NBC 7 that three players have been kicked off of the team, suspended from campus and could face expulsion for their part in the alleged assault, but the punishment wasn't enough for students and parents who rallied outside the school Wednesday evening.
"This is wrong. There should be no more football team," parent Lupe Trejo told NBC 7. "No more playing football for a while to teach them a lesson.
San Diego County sheriff’s deputies were on post at the school Wednesday in response to a shooting threat that surfaced on social media Tuesday night. Deputies confirmed the post included photos of one of the students being disciplined with a gun and threatening captions.
One post includes the caption “No face no case” over a photo of the student in a black facemask and backward baseball cap. Another shows him with what appears to be a handgun in his lap. The third picture is the mask with the caption: "Thinking about shooting up a guy," and the caption on the fourth picture states, “I can show you me shooting someone in the head.”
Deputies determined the shooting threat wasn't credible, in part because they couldn't determine if the student in the photos was the one who made the post or added the captions, according to Superintendent Matt Doyle. Investigators were also unable to determine if the handgun that appeared in the photos was real. That explanation wasn't enough to ease some parents' concerns.
"We want more security for our students and our family members because it's not safe," Karla Gonzalez said at the protest. "We want the victim to know that we're here and we're supporting him and we don't want this to ever happen to anyone."
The superintendent canceled Wednesday night's Back to School Night and said it will be rescheduled. The campus will be closed at 4 p.m. Friday, the principal said and asked all staff and students to leave by that time.
On Friday, Doyle sent out another message to the community:
Every day, parents and families send their students to our schools. And every day, they expect their children to be safe, respected and treated with dignity while in our schools.
Recently, a video capturing incredibly disturbing images of students physically and emotionally assaulting a fellow student in the locker room shattered our trust in student safety. We want to share with you precisely what we are doing to confront this situation and take all appropriate action to identify and discipline those involved in the mistreatment of a fellow student.
The video of students physically taunting and assaulting a fellow classmate, a teammate, caused our school community incredible pain, anger and sadness, sadness and disgust are precisely the reactions I had when I saw students treating one another in such a cruel manner.
Members of our school community are asking questions about what we are doing to address the situation and take strong, decisive action to discipline those involved. We want to share with you what has been done and the action that we continue to take to examine the full situation.
The incident shown on the video was investigated. It is very clear from the disturbing video that a student was physically and emotionally assaulted. Investigations conducted by our district and a separate review by law enforcement concluded the conduct was not sexual assault. I want to assure you these investigations included speaking with the victim and his family. I understand how violating the conduct was and how people concluded sexual assault occurred based on the images and language used. I, as a father and educator, am relieved to confirm that it did not escalate to sexual assault. Regardless, it is our determination that the conduct was utterly unacceptable.
The behavior, the mistreatment, the lack of compassion and respect for a fellow human being is intolerable. Thus far, several students have been disciplined.
We do not want our work to begin and end with this one incident. We have an obligation to determine whether or not this type of conduct was an isolated occurrence. So our investigation continues and will continue until we gather all the information and facts necessary to guide all discipline.
On Sep. 14, there was a protest at Vista High School, which was no doubt attended by people who saw the video and are as appalled as we are by the images. They chant for justice, justice for the student victim. We are proud of our students and community for standing up for and supporting justice for the student.
We agree that we all want justice, which will ultimately be served by gathering the facts and addressing any issues and misconduct that may exist more broadly. People who care for a cause have every right to demonstrate, to make their voices heard, to rally for attention to matters that they care about, but they do not have a right to be physically or verbally threatening. The demonstration turned threatening and that is unacceptable.
The purpose of our investigation is to determine who knew what, when, who was a bystander, who was involved, and where responsibility belongs. Please have patience as we manage this complex and emotionally charged situation and as we do our work. Please help us to keep the campus calm and safe for all staff and students. Please, we are asking every member of the Vista school community to remember not to jump to conclusions and vilify the entire football team.
While this situation is incredibly painful and difficult for our school community, let’s act with integrity, and honor the brave student who spoke up. He shared a terrible experience with us so that we could seek justice. Our work is now guided by his strong and courageous voice, our actions will honor him, and our actions will seek to ensure that this never happens again.