Armed Police swooped on CedarBridge Academy yesterday morning and sealed off the school due to fears of a retaliatory gun attack after two student fist fights.

Almost a thousand pupils and staff were ordered to stay in their classrooms via a loudspeaker announcement after the second fight, in which a 15-year-old boy is believed to have had teeth knocked out, at about 11 a.m.

The Royal Gazette understands that the school enacted its emergency "code blue"procedures and locked down when two female students told a member of staff they had overhead talk of someone heading to the Prospect campus with a gun.

Bermuda Police Service deployed officers, some of them carrying firearms, to conduct a perimeter search and guard the Devonshire school.

Further questioning of the girls convinced officers that their story was embellished and that there was no gun threat. Students were allowed to leave the Devonshire senior school shortly before 3 p.m. when buses arrived to take them home.

The first of the two scuffles between students broke out at about 10 a.m. and resulted in a 16-year-old St. George's boy being taken to hospital with facial injuries, including a suspected broken nose, and a 17-year-old boy from Hamilton being arrested.

An hour later, there was another fight which saw a 15-year-old boy from Hamilton taken to hospital with facial injuries and a 17-year-old boy from St. George's arrested. The younger boy is understood to have had a tooth or teeth knocked out.

Sources said the fights were between rival factions of boys from Crawl and the East End but were not gang-related.

A Police spokesman said officers responded to reports of both altercations and then heightened their presence around the school, which has 850-plus students and about 130 staff, "as a result of specific information received".

He said neither of the boys taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital had life threatening injuries, adding that an investigation into the incidents was under way.

Wendy McDonell, acting commissioner of education, confirmed in a statement that there were two separate fights in the morning.

The statement read: "Based on information received after the fights, measures were taken in accordance with the school's health and safety procedures.

"These actions were carried out with the cooperation of the Bermuda Police Service with the safety of all occupants of the building being paramount.

"Students were asked to remain in their classes under the supervision of their teachers. Lunches, which were provided by the school's cafeteria, were delivered to them."

CedarBridge principal Kalmar Richards said it was a "high stress situation" but everyone remained calm and orderly. She thanked staff and students for their cooperation.

A CedarBridge student, whom this newspaper is not identifying, said they saw the St. George's boy hurt in the first fight with a "split head" as he was being helped to an ambulance.

"He was able to walk but he was pretty much messed up," said the student. "There was blood all in the hallway of the gym. It was just spread out everywhere. Everything was crazy after that."

The student said the order to stay inside came via the public-address system just after second period. "We had to stay away from the doors. They told us nobody is to leave their classes. They came on a couple of times and just kept letting us know that we needed to stay inside.

"I saw paddy wagons and stuff coming up to the school. I saw cops all around the school. I know there was a SWAT walking around (outside).

"The student said the atmosphere indoors stayed calm. "Nobody was really upset. Everybody was just really mad because we were hungry. Everybody was really confused. Nobody knew what was going on."

The mother of a male student at the school said her son was afraid to go back today. "He came straight to me, straight to my job. He was just telling me what happened. He just said he didn't want to go to school tomorrow. I just think he doesn't feel safe."

The woman, who asked not to be named, said she found out about the situation from colleagues in the morning, called the school and was told everything was okay.

"They didn't lie. She probably wasn't at liberty to say anything. I totally understand and Iagree with them keeping them in."

The mother said she felt the school handled the situation correctly. "The worst thing to do is let them out. A lot of children are dropped off by their parents. You would have had everybody's momma up there. What would have happened would have been pandemonium."

As events were still unfolding yesterday morning, Police spokesman Dwayne Caines told this newspaper: "There is no major panic, the environment is safe and parents don't have to worry.

"Students are being kept in their classrooms just while Police and security deal with issues. It's wise in a scenario like this."

Anyone with information about the fights should contact schools' resource officer P.c. Peter Philpott or call Hamilton Criminal Investigation Unit on 295-0011.