Hear from all sides of school brawl
EUGENE, Ore - Michelle Dumilieu says her son came home from school with marks on his neck caused by an adult.
"That's just sick to me," she says.
Meta Reeder says her son, 15-year old Michael Roberts, has been bullied at school for months. Thursday, she says she got a phone call from the principal yet again about a fight.
"Are you just supposed to walk away or defend yourself?" asks Roberts. "I don't know. I think you're supposed to defend yourself."
The situation led to a brutal altercation between students and parents at North Eugene High School Thursday. Now, four adults and one minor face criminal charges.
Several people involved in this story talked to KVAL News. Although their stories differ, it's clear the emotional impact is just the same.
There's still debate over who threw the first punch but 16-year old Tylor Dumilieu, a white student who says he was defending black classmates when he was choked and punched by 36-year old William Roberts, 23-year old Justin Reeder and 40-year old Meta Reeder.
KVAL News has not yet named or spoken on camera with any of the black students involved in the incident, none of whom were cited or identifed by name by police or school officials.
When asked if it's OK to physically attack a teenagers, Reeder replies, "Absolutely not. Unless they are defending themselves. I see this one African American boy with his fists up in his face like this."
Michelle Dumilieu says the way she was treated by police was almost worse than finding out her son had been in a fight.
She says police left her in the dark about the situation and then arrested her for not leaving the scene.
We posed the question about what exactly warranted her arrest to Eugene Police Interim Chief Pete Kerns. "I don't have the exact behavior," he says. "But she interfered with the investigation the officers were conducting. It's a very unfortunate thing that mother could not control her temper and police had to arrest her."
Chief Kerns says he could not elaborate because it's still early in the investigation.
School officials tell KVAL they're working with investigators and are not sure if students will be suspended.
But one thing is clear, these wounds, both physical and emotional will not heal easily.
