ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orange County man says a group of Lockhart Middle School students recently attacked him on his front porch.
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Neighbors have previous said there are daily issues when school is let out.
At the start of the school year, they said issues died down a bit. However, more students kept crossing through the catwalk and flooding the neighborhood.
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The catwalk connects the school and Kelvington Drive. The students went from fighting each other to fighting the people who live there.
Now, the neighbors say they’re preparing to fight back.
“We have been asking for years now. Do something about these kids coming down our street,” said Ricky French.
Neighbors like Sonny Kemesies say they film Lockhart Middle School students during dismissal daily.
“At 4 p.m., there’s like 50, 60 kids fighting on that lawn down there.” Kemesies said.
Friday neighbors said the behavior escalated.
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“A big group of kids came up saying I can’t film them,” French said.
French said they yelled back and forth. What happened next was caught on vide.
“He went to swing on me,” French said. “We went to tussling around then they all just swarmed me. I’d say anywhere from six to 10 kids.”
Six months ago, Channel 9 first reported on the issues in the neighborhood. Orange County commissioner Christine Moore said she considered blocking the catwalk. It connects the school to the neighborhood. However, she says closing it would lead to larger issues.
“It’s unreal these are middle school kids,” French said.
Moore and the neighbors say the problem is that too many kids are released and gathering at one time.
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Neighbors asked why the School Resource Officers couldn’t guard the walkway as kids exit.
According to the sheriff’s office, the officers can’t leave school property. However, deputies say there will be extra patrols in the area this week.
Commissioner Moore said, during the Christmas break, she plans on working with multiple departments to come up with a solution.
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