A group of 150 students from Costa Rica High School attacked police yesterday with pipes, wood, rocks and food.

Municipal police said the students attacked officers in the morning after they attempted to shut down vendors selling pizza out of their cars without permits.

“Some citizens had asked us to do something about these vendors,” Police Chief Isidro Calvo said. “The students started with a threatening posture and before long the situation was out of control, with them pegging us with wood, rocks and pipes. Who the heck knows where they got the pipes from?”

Calvo said one officer, Marcos Garcia, remained in the hospital after sustaining kidney injuries. He said two other officers – Gonzalo Segura and Miguel Mora – were also seriously injured.

The chief said that after the initial confrontation, students attacked a nearby soda, which they believed was responsible for the complaint against the street vendors. Four officers tried to defend the soda but retreated when they realized they weren't enough. Calvo said nobody at the soda was injured but the building was damaged.

“This event shows we are in a profound crisis in our schools,” he said.

Calvo said his department plans to file an official complaint against the students and their director, Javier Jara. He said Jara took no action against his students and a press release from the municipality states he “applauded their havoc, congratulated them and told police he had no authority to give them instructions because they were outside school grounds.”