Atherton: Student disputes police account of gunfire, racial tension at party Atherton: Student disputes police account of gunfire, racial tension at party (August 31, 2005)

** School rivalry led to fight, she said.

By David Boyce

Almanac Staff Writer

A Menlo-Atherton High School student contacted the Almanac recently to dispute some of a police account of what happened at a July 29 Atherton party on Glenwood Avenue that got out of hand when uninvited guests arrived, leading to a fistfight, robberies, vehicle vandalism and a bullet hole in a vehicle's door from an AK-47.

The student, who said she was at the party but asked not to be named because of concern about retaliation, disputed points made by police in an August 10 Almanac story: that racial tensions caused the fight, and that the gunshot was fired into a vehicle occupied by people vandalizing vehicles.

The student, now a senior at M-A, said the fight was due to school rivalry, not racism. The troublemakers, she said, were uninvited Woodside High boys with a reputation for party crashing and thievery. They started fighting when invited guests from M-A asked them to leave, she said.

As for the shooting, she said the boy whose car was shot "is a good friend of my friend [and] did not vandalize anything." She was not a witness to the shooting but relying on an account from someone who was, she said it was a drive-by shooting.

In the story, police reported that someone -- perhaps someone whose vehicle had been vandalized -- removed a gun from a vehicle and fired one round into a vehicle occupied by the group doing the vandalizing.

The fight and its aftermath are under investigation by Detective Joe Wade of the Atherton Police Department. While he wouldn't go into detail about what he has learned, Mr. Wade said he agreed that the fight was started by "guys from Woodside High."

As to the particulars of which vehicle was shot and who might have done it, Mr. Wade said: "I don't believe it's as she says." The weapon used was an AK-47 rifle, he said.

On the racial angle, he said that after the fight, and perhaps as a result of it, racial epithets were exchanged.

There is no evidence of gang involvement, he said, but he noted that it is difficult getting people to talk. "Nobody wants to say anything because of retribution or retaliation," he said.

Police said two people were taken to the hospital, one with a concussion and one complaining of neck and head pains.
How it started

The front of the house had been sealed off with the back of the house being used for the party, said the student. The back door had been locked, but guests kept letting in uninvited friends and at some point, the Woodside High boys got in as well.

Sensing trouble, the host turned off the music, asked everyone to leave, and asked group of large M-A boys to extract the Woodside boys, the student said. Voices rose, beverages were poured on the floor, punches were thrown and windows were broken, but the physical part was over in less than 10 minutes, she said.

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