Fire extinguisher discharged in fight at Saunders high school

Chaos erupted at Saunders Secondary on Friday after a fire extinguisher was let off in the school, CTV London's Bryan Bicknell has the details.

London police are investigating after a large fight broke out at Saunders Secondary School on Thursday. The incident involved a fire extinguisher and several students.

“It was so foggy. Like you couldn’t see a single thing,” said Zak, a student at the school who was inside the room where a fire extinguisher was discharged.

“Oh man, it smelled really bad. You can’t really breathe. And it was pretty scary man, just outta nowhere,” added student Caine Faulkner.

Video shared with CTV News appears to show a fire extinguisher going off in what students described as an art room. Fire suppressant fills the room on two floors. A group of students can be seen through heavy fog involved in an altercation with another student.

Student Adrian Kisel was in the room and described what happened.

“There was this group of guys going to jump this one kid. He was trying to defend himself... He started spraying [the fire extinguisher]. I don’t know what happened because it exploded or something because the whole first floor was all covered,” he exclaimed.

Student Nathan Linner was also witness to the violence.

“People swarmed the kid who sprayed it, and he tried to defend himself using the extinguisher, but it was a mess, people everywhere - and then it went and led up to the upstairs, and then that’s when the real fighting started happening,” Linner said.

Several videos show fighting in a school hallway involving a number of students. Video also shows firefighters responding. London police could not say whether any charges have been laid in connection with the incidents, or if anyone was hurt.

Student Keira Armstong told CTV News she believes at least one boy was hurt. “Some guy got hit like right here,” she said as she gestured to her face. “Now he has a huge swollen like goose egg on his eye with a fire extinguisher - it was really bad. It was purple, he was bleeding a little bit, he was stumbling all over.” She added that she did not see an ambulance on site, and that the injured youth was taken by a friend.

Administration at Saunders did not respond to our request for an interview.

Thames Valley District School Board Director of Education Bill Tucker was not available for an interview. TVDSB issued the following statement:

Meanwhile, student Duncan Patrick was quick to defend his school, saying Saunders gets a bad rap.

“I really think that all the stuff that goes around about these incidents paints a bad image on the place and that it’s not really a safe environment. But honestly, the classes here, the programs are so extensive, everyone’s getting the education that they want,” said Patrick.