Bridgeport school officials met Wednesday to discuss fights at Harding High School that sent four people to the hospital and resulted in the arrest of several students.

In the course of the emergency meeting, School Superintendent Dr. John Ramos, the school's principal and the district's security director talked about how a student managed to get through metal detectors with brass knuckles, and why parents were not better informed about the incident that caused the school to go on lockdown Tuesday afternoon.

Ramos says the school's telephone notification system malfunctioned, and parents found out about the fight that was described by some students as ?mayhem? only from a brief note that was sent home with their children.

?I'm getting ready to go tomorrow to tell the principal if she do[es]n't straighten it up, my kid is gone,? says parent Paul Cabral.

Several altercations broke out in the school's hallways, including one instance in which a student got punched in the face with brass knuckles.

The Bridgeport school security director says a shooting over the weekend may have sparked the violence at Harding High School.