Police called to fight involving high school students at Kitchener pizza shop

A fight involving Kitchener high school students brought police officers to a shopping plaza in Kitchener around noon Thursday.

Sandip Patel, the owner of City Pizza on Fischer-Hallman Road said the fight happened inside his store, and it’s a common occurrence in the plaza.

"I tried to separate them, but the students are fighting everyday,” Patel said. “They fight every week."

Video given to CTV News shows a fight breaking out inside the restaurant involving several youths.

Patel said he doesn't know why the fight started, but it’s a common problem he sees every week. He said despite the incidents, most of his lunchtime customers are great.

"Some aren’t so bad, it’s just three or four students, but the kids are good,” Patel said.

Sandip Patel serving customers at City Pizza on Fischer-Hallman Road in Kitchener on Feb. 16, 2023. (Colton Wiens/CTV Kitchener)

STUDENTS REACT

Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) confirmed the fight involved two students from Resurrection Catholic Secondary School, which is located near the Glasgow Heights plaza.

A WCDSB spokesperson said police returned the students to the school where they are “facing the appropriate disciplinary processes.”

Resurrection Catholic Secondary School students said videos of the fight were quickly circulated. They say fighting seems to be a part of high school culture, but they wish it was not.

“I didn’t even know what to make of it, they just started punching each other and stuff,” one student at Resurrection Catholic Secondary School said.

“It makes me feel like it’s not a safe environment. I just want to go to the plaza and get my food. I don’t want to see that stuff, I just want to be,” another Resurrection student told CTV News.

Waterloo regional police tweeted that the investigation is ongoing and there were no reports of physical injuries as of 12:18 p.m.