OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — On Wednesday afternoon during lunch hours, Nhinja Express in South Oklahoma City turned into chaos when a fight broke out in the middle of the dining area.
Mary Nhin, the restaurant's co-owner, says the students are coming from Westmoore High School, down the street from her business.
"We've been open about four years. And we've always have students come in. Sometimes they will order or sometimes they go to the bathroom or act like they're going to the bathroom. They take a smoke break and then sometimes they just come in and grab free drinks," says Nhin.
Nhin also says Wednesday's brawl was not the first.
The incident broke one of their tables inside the restaurant.
"It did result in some damage and some vandalism. As a small business owner, it's very disheartening," says Nhin.
The Director of Operations for Nhinja Express, Tony Nguyen, was in shock.
"Yesterday, you know, there was just people, a bunch of kids actually coming in with a group of them," Nguyen said. "And then one thing led to another. Another student came in and they just went at it."
Moore Public Schools sent a statement regarding the incident:
Moore Public Schools learned of an off-campus incident that occurred during the school day, and we are troubled by the video sent to us of students fighting. The vast majority of Westmoore and MPS students are outstanding both in their academics and behavior on and off campus.
However, events that happen during school hours, but off school property, are outside of the MPS realm of authority. Through our investigation, one of the students involved in a previous altercation was not even a current MPS student.
MPS is certainly sensitive to local businesses with regard to the behavior of some adolescents at establishments during the school day. Each semester, MPS high school students review expectations and policies for behavior. Annually, in an effort to be proactive, administrators make classroom visits to direct these conversations which, this year, occurred prior to the social media post about this incident.
Legally, to result in disciplinary action on the part of MPS, the behavior that occurred off-campus has to have a subsequent connection back to behavior in the school. Without this connection, the school has no legal authority to address the situation. While this may be frustrating for business owners, the most direct approach to address inappropriate behavior by any adult or minor patron, is to contact the police.
We encourage local businesses that experience any negative incident(s) involving a student to call the police immediately and consider pressing charges.
Finally, the Westmoore administrative staff has addressed behavioral concerns occurring off campus with students and their parents when that behavior is directly connected back to the school. Concerning this incident, multiple students are under investigation. Their parents have been contacted and are actively involved in the conversation.
Moore Public Schools remains dedicated to being good community partners and we appreciate local businesses serving our students and families; however, we can only take action that the law allows.
Anna Aguilar, Director of Communications & Community Relations
The owners tell me the Westmoore location is one of five of their restaurants, but problems only occur at this specific location.
Nhinja Express is open during regular business hours but are temporarily closing their dining area from 11:00a.m. to 1:00p.m.
