A series of fights and attacks in downtown Berkeley on Friday, Oct. 16, left Berkeley High School and local community members injured, leaving students and families concerned about safety off campus,as students celebrated Red and Gold Day during Unity Week.
According to video footage sent to the Jacket, at around 12:30 p.m. on the 2100 block of Shattuck Avenue, a 14-year-old boy was punched and kicked while on the ground as bystanders threw eggs, soda cans, and Orbeez gun pellets. In a separate incident, BHS sophomore Eso Abdel Rahman reported seeing a female student get sprayed with bleach in downtown Berkeley. The Berkeley Police Department (BPD) is actively investigating both incidents, and students involved may be referred to juvenile probation.
BHS Principal Juan Raygoza condemned the events. “Some of our students were physically harmed in ways that are absolutely unacceptable, and some of our students acted in ways that were absolutely unacceptable,” he said.
In an email sent to BHS students and families on Tuesday, Oct. 20 2026, Raygoza wrote that the school’s immediate priority is identifying involved students, communicating with affected students and families, and responding to the incidents. According to Raygoza, BHS is working with the BPD to “implement appropriate disciplinary measures.” The school legally cannot share specific details about disciplinary actions taken against individual students.
Raygoza said school and district leaders are reviewing Friday’s events to determine what supervision and safety practices were effective and where changes are necessary. The school also plans to work with BPD to strengthen coordination at future school events.
According to Raygoza, BHS informed its school resource officer, Lino Guananja, about Red and Gold Day early on, sharing the school’s safety plans and outlining where administrators would be stationed throughout the day. He said this partnership helps BHS and BPD better anticipate potential incidents during school events, and allows the school to work with Guananja when matters rise to the level of police involvement.
The school additionally contacted local businesses before Friday to alert them to the possibility of students buying and throwing eggs, asking them to consider refusing to sell eggs to students in efforts to reduce harm.
Raygoza urged families to talk with their teenagers about personal safety, bystander responsibility, and the impact of their choices. “It is on me as the principal, and it’s on our entire community to uplift safety,” he said.