BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)- Cell phone video captured a brawl near the Utica St. MetroRail station on Tuesday. Teenage girls punched, hit and grabbed each other.
Transit Police and Buffalo Peacemakers broke up the fight.
“From what we were told, it was something over friendship between two other students and someone thought someone else wasn’t being a true friend,” said Captain Michael Garrity, with Transit Authority Police.
Two teens were arrested.
“And one of the mothers of one of the juveniles because she was instigating her daughter to fight the other girl,” said Captain Garrity.
The fight didn’t last long but the girls involved did not back down, even once police intervened.
Captain Garrity told us after school is the busiest time at the Utica St. station with upwards of 200 students there at certain times.
Buffalo Police boosted their presence at the station on Wednesday. Transit Police and Peacemakers were also out in force.
“We clear the corners, we keep them from the front of the store, we keep the crowd from building,” said Tina Sanders, a senior Peacemaker. “Then we have less of people lingering together.”
Sanders said this was the first major fight of this school year.
“So one fight since September is pretty good, we’ve gotten better from last year to this year,” she said. “We had tremendous progress.”
The NFTA also told News 4 their calls are down.
Sanders said the overall reduction in violence at that corner is a sign of the progress students have made.
“My message to the kids is when you get out of school, I know you want to hang with your friends, but go home, just go home and you’ll keep yourself from getting involved in different things,” said Sanders.
She also hopes parents will talk to their kids.
“Let’s work together to keep as much of the fighting or crime down as we possibly can,” said Sanders.
