Brawl breaks out at high school graduation ceremony for students on probation

A high school graduation for more than 100 Los Angeles County teenagers - including nearly 30 who are on probation - turned violent when a massive brawl broke out.

The melee unfolded on Thursday at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles, when authorities say a community member leaped over a second-story balcony to assault one of the graduates.

'I had just walked the stage when suddenly, kids from an alternative education school and probation started fighting,' witness Brianna Valdez told Fox LA.

'Girls were fighting, guys were fighting. I was really scared,' she said. 'It's like we're here for a happy moment, and it's ruined with gang activity.' 

The situation escalated as gunshots were reported outside the Concert Hall as students and families left the ceremony around 5pm. 

'We were coming out of the ceremony, and there was a car on the other side,' Raul Valdez said

'We just saw shooting and saw the smoke and everything, and everybody just got down on the ground.'

Another witness said he saw someone throw his mother to the ground to cover her body, telling her, 'Mom, get down, they're shooting.' 

Javonte Jamison also claimed he saw someone bleeding outside.

'He looked like just got done fighting and I could see the car pulling up, that they were about to do something for sure,' he said.

'You could see the gun smoke, gun shells hitting the floor and they they just kind of peeled out.'

It remains unclear what the motive was for the massive brawl, and if the shooting outside the Concert Hall was related.

But the Los Angeles County Probation Department said all of its 29 graduates were already out of the auditorium by the time the brawl started.

'All detained probation youth had already exited the auditorium and were placed in a secure holding area prior to the incident occurring,' the department said in a statement. 

'The Probation Special Enforcement Operations Unit quickly responded, containing the incident and restoring order inside the auditorium.'

No injuries were reported, and four people were detained following the altercation.

Their identities and the charges against them have not been released.