8 Arrested After Brawl at Kindergarten Graduation

A kindergarten graduation in Cleveland ended with eight people in detention — police detention — after an argument erupted into a sidewalk brawl.

Families of students at the Michael R. White School were gathered for the end-of-year ceremony when two teenagers got into a dispute and stepped outside to continue it, said Roseann Canfora, a spokeswoman for the city schools.

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Cleveland Police Commander Wayne Drummond said investigators were trying to confirm reports that a spilled cup of punch sparked the original argument.

He said the first 911 call came in as a report of a shot fired — which turned out not to be true — and the school was put on lockdown while several patrol cars responded within minutes.

“There were no guns, but one individual did pull out a club or a stick and one person did grab a hammer,” Drummond told NBC News.

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Seven adults and one teenager were arrested for aggravated rioting and prosecutors will decide whether to charge them, he said. No one was seriously injured, but there were a number of scrapes and bruises from the fisticuffs.

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