A violent street brawl between about 20 teenagers outside a Rotorua school has left residents shocked.
Witnesses said those involved were picking up chunks of wood and using them as weapons and one young woman was stopped as she headed into the fight with a machete-type weapon.
Police, youth workers and teachers
from nearby schools had to break up a street fight between about 20 youths in Western Heights yesterday afternoon.
An elderly resident, who wanted to remain anonymous, said it was alarming to see the young people fighting.
"It's shocking, they have no respect for one another and it looked like they were willing to seriously hurt someone," he said.
More than 100 students from Western Heights High School and Kaitao Middle School witnessed the fight, which broke out near the Kaitao Middle School entrance on Bell Rd. It was believed to involve rival youth gangs.
Students from Western Heights High School told The Daily Post the youths didn't go to their school. The students said they were unsure which school the brawlers attended.
One student, who did not want to be named, said the first fight lasted a couple of minutes before breaking up. The gangs then moved down towards the corner of Bell Rd and Brookland Rd where they began fighting again.
"They just sprinted in and started smashing each other, it was mean as. There were some big hits," the student said.
Another student said the youths were picking up chunks of wood and using them as weapons and a young woman was seen running out of a house with a machete-type weapon. She was stopped by police before she could reach a group of youths and had it confiscated.
Police, youth workers and teachers spent about an hour trying to calm students and get them to leave the area.
Rotorua police Senior Sergeant Malcolm Collins said last night he could not comment about the incident because officers were still investigating.
