WOONSOCKET, R.I. – On Monday, police arrested 13 students after four separate fights at Woonsocket High School, and another student at Hamlet Middle School was arrested after he was allegedly found with pepper spray, authorities said.
Police Chief Thomas Oates III said on Tuesday that all of the students at the high school were charged with disorderly conduct, and one also received a probation violation.
The middle school student was charged with possession of pepper spray, Oates said.
Because they are juveniles, the students were not publicly identified.
According to Oates, each of the altercations at the high school were between students “over disagreements that they had with each other, for whatever it may be.”
“It’s nothing gang related. It’s nothing that one large group is fighting with another group,” Oates said. “It just turned out to be a very busy day where these groups of individuals chose, for whatever reason, to act out.”
The middle school student was charged after a school resource officer received information about the student having pepper spray, Oates said.
In addition to a school resource officer, another officer was assigned to the high school on Tuesday morning until authorities make sure they have a “control on the temperature,” according to Oates.
Oates said safety is always a concern, but “there’s no overall impending threat or fear of anything major.”
“These were all minor, unfortunate incidents,” he said.
Christopher Gavin can be reached at christopher.gavin@globe.com.
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