Chicago police said they responded to an incident which quickly escalated from a fight between two female students into a three-person altercation with a crowd gathering around them. Police said the Taser was used to make an arrest and restore order.
Students said the incident happened around 1 p.m. in a hallway on the school's second floor. A police statement said that two female students got into a fight and a third got involved as well. Police said in the statement that the fight came to blows, and police used the Taser to restore order.
"The girl kept saying 'I'm not getting arrested,' and we said you have to," said student Angela Casas. "So then she was going crazy, kept swinging. So then they had to Taser her for her to calm down."
The Chicago Fire Department said the student was transported from the school to Our Lady of Resurrection Hospital. There was no word on her condition Friday evening. Chicago police said armed CPD officers are assigned to the school every day as part of the security detail inside, which includes unarmed school security guards and metal detectors at the front door.
Some parents said they were not notified of the incident.
"There's better ways to break up a fight than to do it like that," said Anna Ovalle, a parent of a student at the school. "I don't think they should have gone to that extreme. There's proper ways to find out what the fight is all about but not using that. That's like violence."
Students said fights are not uncommon at the school but rarely do they escalate to arrest. Some told ABC7 that they think the actions of the Tasered student were wrong but question the use of force to subdue her.
"Why are they getting into fights? That's not right in school," said student Jessica Ovalle. "Security breaks us up but not to be tasing us. What if their parents knew about that? I think it's wrong if you ask me."
"Overall, I just think they shouldn't have Tasered her. Yeah, she was arrested, but that doesn't mean you should use your weapons against the student for just an arrest. That just doesn't make any sense," said student Destiny Figueroa.
ABC7 contacted the hospital, but has not heard back regarding her condition. ABC7 also contacted Chicago Public Schools, but they referred all questions to Chicago Police.
