Pepper Spray Incident Near Excelsior High School Injures Students, Staff

A midday altercation outside Leadership High School on Ocean Avenue left six students and two staff members exposed to pepper spray Wednesday, triggering a multiple-patient emergency response that drew one fire engine and three ambulances to the 300 block of the busy Excelsior corridor.

The San Francisco Fire Department reported the call at approximately 1:55 p.m. and declared a "Multiple Patients Alert" for the scene. An SFFD spokesperson told KRON4 that the spray was used intentionally by someone in a "large group" of people that had broken out in a physical altercation. Spokesperson Mariano Elias confirmed the department was dispatched to the front of the school, though it remained unclear Wednesday whether any part of the confrontation occurred inside the building. SFFD also noted the altercation unfolded across several locations around the school.

All eight people were evaluated at the scene by firefighters and paramedics. One student was transported to a local hospital, according to KTVU. Three juveniles were reunited with their parents and declined transport, while two adults also declined. Three additional patients were still being evaluated at the time of initial reports.

Leadership High School is listed by the California Department of Education at 350 Seneca Avenue, a short walk from Ocean Avenue. The school is a small public charter high school in the Excelsior district; some outlets, including NationalToday and the San Francisco Chronicle, referred to the campus as City Arts and Leadership Academy, the name adopted in 2022 when Leadership High merged with City Arts and Technology High School.

Officials have not said what triggered the altercation, and neither the San Francisco Police Department nor the school district had released statements as of Wednesday evening. Reporters requested comment from both agencies, and no information on possible arrests had been made available.