About 150 students from high schools in the Laurel area gathered in chilly winter weather Dec. 7 to walk for peace in Laurel following a brutal attack on a student last month.

Groups of teenagers in coats and hats huddled together, some clutching candles, at the entrance to Laurel High School prior to the walk, which began shortly after 7:30 p.m. and lasted about an hour, stretching from Cherry Lane to Fourth Street to Montgomery Street and ending at St. Vincent Pallotti High School.

Students walked in support of a 16-year-old Pallotti student who was brutally assaulted by 10 assailants on Fourth Street Nov. 7. The teen, who could not identify his assailants because he blacked out during the attack as he was kicked and struck with a baseball bat repeatedly, lost a tooth, received a contusion and had his jaw broken in four places during the attack.

He said he was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support at the peace walk. Though his jaw was still wired he managed to say through clenched teeth that he was thankful for the turnout.

"I'm just glad everyone is here," he said. "It's just phenomenal."

Some students said they believed the assault was the work of gangs in the area. "I don't think it's fair for gangs to jump on one person, because they could get seriously hurt or even killed," said Pallotti student Larry Burkett, 14.

"Hopefully people will realize what gangs are doing. It will be nice for people to realize that the world is not as pretty as it seems," he said.

City spokesman James Collins said police are investigating whether the incident was gang related.

Burkett's father, Larry Burkett Sr., 48, of Maryland City, said he had steadily seen Laurel's safety deteriorate over the years. The streets are no longer safe for his son, he said.

"He is almost 15 years old and I'm scared to let him go out there any more," he said.

The November assault was not an isolated one. Pallotti Principal Steve Edmonds has said a foreign-exchange student at the school was recently visiting relatives in that same area, around Fourth Street south of Route 198, and was attacked by a group of five or six youths and required 10 stitches to the back of his head.

Christina Anastasio, 17, a senior at Pallotti, said Monday night she was hoping by walking to raise awareness for the need for peace in the community. "It's so heartbreaking to see people get hurt, physically or emotionally," she said.

Jason Wolfe, 17, also a senior at Pallotti and president of the school's Student Government Association, said he was there "to bring hope to people that peace can be attained."

Edmonds said he was walking to end violence but also to support the positive youth in the area.

"There's too many good people and too many good kids," he said. "We don't want this to overshadow the good in the community."

Laurel High Principal Dwayne Jones said he was there to keep young people "from getting caught up in any kind of violence."

Students beyond Laurel and Pallotti attended, including Chris Knocke, 15, a 10th grader at Reservoir High School. Knocke said he was there because "it seemed like a good cause."

Nancy Vawter, director of campus ministry at Pallotti and one of the organizers of the walk, said the police-escorted event proceeded without any hitches. Following the walk, participants ate cookies and drank hot chocolate at Pallotti and were addressed by Edmonds, Jones and a Pallotti student.

Vawter said the walk organizers plan to hold another event next year.

"This is an opportunity (for students) to say to their peers, 'this is not how we want to live,' " she said. "We are people of peace, and violence is not the answer."

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