Fight breaks out in school library, 1 person taken to hospital

Community+service+officers+from+the+Sacramento+State+Police+Department+gather+while+officers+investigate+a+fight+that+broke+out+in+the+University+Library+on+Tuesday%2C+March+6%2C+2018.+According+to+witnesses%2C+the+fight+started+after+one+person+told+someone+else+to+leave+for+sneezing.

Caleb Danielson - The State Hornet

Community service officers from the Sacramento State Police Department gather while officers investigate a fight that broke out in the University Library on Tuesday, March 6, 2018. According to witnesses, the fight started after one person told someone else to leave for sneezing.

A fight broke out on the second floor of the library Tuesday night, police confirmed. Witnesses said two people began arguing and eventually got into a fight shortly before 8 p.m.

According to Sacramento State student Timothy Nguyen, someone studying near the windows sneezed, and another person sitting nearby told him he needed to leave so he wouldn’t get other people sick.

Nguyen said the two started staring at each other, and after a while one of them got up and asked the other, “Do you want to go? You want to take this outside?”

A few moments later, Nguyen said, they started aggressively shoving each other.

Caleb Danielson – The State Hornet
Firefighters and paramedics make their way to someone who was involved in a fight in the Sacramento State library on Tuesday, March 6, 2018. The individual was transported to the hospital, though officials say he was not injured during the fight.

Sac State’s Chief of Police, Mark Iwasa, confirmed that the fight started over a sneeze. He said a student from Sac State sneezed, and a student from UC Davis confronted him because he didn’t want to get sick.

According to Iwasa, the Sac State student said, “It’s just a sneeze, I’m not really sick.”

The argument turned into fight, and the UC Davis student was punched in the face. Nguyen said he tried to break up the fight, telling them it wasn’t worth it, but he said he couldn’t stop them. Nguyen said that a friend of one of the participants, and several other people, also tried to break up the fight.

Three campus police officers responded, along with at least five community service officers. By the time they arrived, the fight was over, Iwasa said.

Iwasa said the Davis student requested medical attention for his injuries, so paramedics were called.

Firefighters and paramedics from the Sacramento Fire Department arrived to treat the UC Davis student, who also started having an asthma attack a few minutes before they got there, Iwasa said. Paramedics transported him to the hospital for further medical care as a result of his asthma attack.

One of the officers that responded that night, Cpl. Paul Skrinie, said that even if a fight is mutual, it isn’t tolerated by university police. “This is not the behavior we support,” he said.

Skrinie said no arrests were made.

This story has been updated with additional information from Sacramento State Chief of Police Mark Iwasa.