Vista Unified School District's superintendent is asking witnesses to come forward with information about alleged misconduct involving players on the Vista High School football team.
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department is investigating the incident, as is, as of Monday, an outside investigator referred by the district, according to Superintendent Matt Doyle. The district's internal investigation was launched a week-and-a-half ago, Doyle said.
"A courageous student shared deeply concerning allegations of student-to-student conduct in the locker room and we moved immediately to investigate and increase supervision to ensure student safety," Doyle said in a statement released Monday night after he led a virtual meeting for parents.
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Investigators are looking into witness reports and video evidence, Doyle told NBC 7 after the meeting, which was closed to the media.
Doyle confirmed the alleged incident does not involve sexual assault. He also confirmed a coach on the freshman football team staff had been fired.
Further disciplinary action for students and staff would be "guided by the facts gathered from our investigation," Doyle said in the statement.
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Doyle asked anyone with information to reach out to the district's Human Resources Department or email private investigator Howard Fulfrost at hfulfrost@f3law.com.
Doyle did not address specifics about the nature of the alleged misconduct, including who or how many were involved, only saying they could include physical and verbal threats that were made in the high school locker room.
The Vista Sheriff's Department said they are also investigating:
"On Sept. 2, the Vista Sheriff's Station was advised by school officials at Vista High School of an incident involving possible misconduct by student-athletes," the department said via email. "Since then, the juvenile detective assigned to the Vista Sheriff's Station has been working with school officials to determine what actually happened. The investigation is ongoing. At this time, we do not have any reason to believe there is any danger to students at Vista High School."
Principal David Jaffe sent a letter to parents informing them of the situation and outlined an immediate safety action plan for students. Some of the plans include counseling services and increased daily supervision of the locker room by coaches, with administrative oversight.
The superintendent told NBC 7 that the concerns were serious and school officials were taking significant action to address them.
