FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Four teenage boys are charged as adults after troopers say they caused a riot, threatened staff and damaged property at the Outside In School of Experimental Learning on Saturday.
When police got the call to head to the outside in school, “it was described to us as utter chaos,” Trooper Steve Limani said.
When they got there, “it was a very violent scene and a very scary scene,” Limani added.
The Outside In School is a facility for young boys who are there through Children and Youth Services, or ordered there by the courts.
Police said a fight started inside one of the cabins at the school when a teenager said something insulting to another.
Staff inside tried to stop the fight, but that’s when troopers say things escalated.
“Many of the students had grabbed damaged items like glass from the fire extinguisher, pencils, and were threatening to stab some of the staff members who were there,” Limani said.
Rockey Magar, 15; Lamont Warren, 15; Christian White, 15; and Faizon Way, 16, are charged as adults in the investigation.
“Those four appear to be the ringleaders from what we were able to get the descriptions of,” Limani said.
According to court documents, White and Way threatened to kill a staff member who was hurt trying to stop the fight, using a lamp, pencil, and broken piece of glass as a weapon.
Way is also accused of beating a staff member in the ribs with a wooden broom handle.
Troopers say Magar punched one staff member in the jaw, and Warren swung a pencil at staff.
“It was very scary and it probably could have been even worse the way that everything unfolded,” Limani said. “In the grand totality of the circumstance, no one was injured to the point of some type of hospitalization or things of that nature, so we were lucky.”
The four are also accused of causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage.
Troopers said there were dozens of teens in the cabins.
They’re continuing to look through security footage to determine if any others will be charged.
“You don’t know if they’re running to get away because they’re afraid of the chaos and the violence that’s taking place, or they are actually running to commit chaos or violence, or escape,” Limani said.
Investigators believe the cold temperatures on Saturday may have helped keep some teens from escaping.
All four teens are in the Westmoreland County Jail.
Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek called the Outside In school asking for comment on Saturday’s riot, but has not heard back.
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