Afterschool violence has San Francisco teens living in fear; 'I feel like I'm always watching over my back'
SAN FRANCISCO -- A student brawl at an after school hangout spot in San Francisco is putting the spotlight on the much larger problem of violence on campus that has some kids afraid of their classmates.
Cellphone video shows a mob of young people repeatedly kicking and beating someone on the ground in the Stonestown Galleria food court as many watched.
Update: San Francisco city leaders promise action after multiple violent incidents involving youth
After a brief break, attackers continue to kick and stomp on the victim.
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Friday's violence was not isolated. On Wednesday, a fight broke out at Target, where a mall security guard can be seen on video right in the middle of the chaos.
"I feel like I'm always watching over my back. If I mess with the wrong people, I'm always careful about what I say. If I know that they're friends with those people that are involved in those things, I guard what I say. I don't really feel safe at school," said 15-year-old Domenica Martinez.
The Washington High School freshman said Stonestown is the go-to hangout spot for students afterschool.
In fact, she was there Friday after the mob attack at Target. Cellphone video shows one student picking up the victim and slamming him to the ground.
"I did see police talking to kids in the video that you showed me. They didn't even look like they regretted it. It's obviously going to happen again because they were messing around and they threw a bottle of milk at me and my mom when we were walking by," Martinez said.
SFPD did not say if they detained anyone, only that they are stepping up patrols at the mall. But the department is more than 500 officers short, and only has about 7 patrol officers in the Taraval Police District on any given night.
Supervisor Ahsha Safai explained the shortage.
"One - we have not supported our officers in this city," Safai said. "There's been a culture of blaming officers more so than anything else, but at the end of the day they don't feel welcome in San Francisco. Secondly, we've underfunded the department."
SFPD is using overtime to fill the shortfall, but the district stations are still short officers, according to Safai. He said he plans to asked for an additional $3 million to double the number of officesr at district stations on Tuesday.
Domenica said she sees similar fights on or around campus weekly.
"It's not only high school, most of it actually happens in middle schools, it starts really in middle school, the middle schools around here used to be a lot of safer back when I was starting in 6th grade, but it just became so violent by the end," Martinez said. "We don't really have enough staff to prevent the fights or to help the kids out."
