11 Syracuse high schoolers involved in alleged lacrosse team hazing have turned themselves in

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T

Eleven upstate New York high school students have turned themselves in after an alleged hazing stunt on younger players on their lacrosse team, in which officials say at least one student was taken to the remote woods and tied up.

Onondaga County Assistant District Attorney Joseph T. Coolican confirmed that all 11 students in question turned themselves in to the sheriff's office Wednesday and have received appearance tickets.

No other information about the students or their current statuses was shared. It was not immediately clear whether any of them had legal representation.

District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick said earlier that he and the Onondaga County Sheriff's Office had decided to prosecute the case — and gave anyone involved a 48-hour window to turn themselves in to avoid criminal records. Investigators said they believe 11 people, perhaps more, were involved in the stunt.

"You have 48 hours to turn yourself into the sheriff's department and the following will happen: You will be given an appearance ticket with a crime of unlawful imprisonment, a class A misdemeanor. You will not be spending time in the public safety building, you will not have bail set, you will be released to the custody of your parents," Fitzpatrick said.

Fitzpatrick said some of the people involved are "of age," meaning at least 18. None of their names have been released.

The students are alleged to have been involved in a hazing incident with their lacrosse team last week.

Fitzpatrick described the alleged incident as "hazing on steroids" at a news conference Tuesday.

The incident involving students at Westhill High School in Syracuse unfolded last Thursday, Fitzpatrick said. Some lacrosse team students decided "they were going to haze or play some sort of prank" on younger members, he said.

The sheriff's office identified at least five victims.

One victim reported that he went to a lacrosse game and then McDonald's with upperclassmen. But the evening took a turn when, he said, he was taken to a remote wooded area in the county after the driver of the vehicle pretended to be lost, authorities said.

"At some point by prearrangement, people came out of the woods all dressed in black. They were armed with what appeared to be at least one handgun and at least one knife," Fitzpatrick said. "The individual had a pillowcase placed over his head. He was tied up and placed in the trunk of a car."

Fitzpatrick said he saw videotape of the incident.

"There was a period of time where he thought that he was going to be abandoned in the middle of nowhere," he said. "You can hear some individuals found it amusing."

The student was eventually returned home. Fitzgerald said that he didn't know whether the student suffered any physical injury but that "emotionally that's going to be long term."

He said that "some of the other individuals were able to escape."

Fitzgerald said the case will most likely be handled in family court. Those who turned themselves inwill have the opportunity to "end this situation without a criminal conviction and a criminal record," Fitzpatrick said.

He said that if any of the students hadn't turned themselves in within the 48-hour window, they would have been arrested, prosecuted as adults and charged with "a very, very serious felony" of kidnapping.

"Some people have been cooperative with the sheriff's office and given statements, some people have not," he said.

"There's a thing in New York called accomplished liability. This was a group effort. Some people were assigned different roles. I don't care who held the gun. His role is no different than the guy who held the knife, than the guy who held nothing, than the guy who dragged this poor kid into the trunk of a car. They're all in this together," he said.

Westhill Central School District Superintendent Steve Dunham announced the rest of the boy's lacrosse season has been canceled.

In a statement, he said the district has been investigating "reports of a potential off-campus hazing incident," NBC affiliate WSTM of Syracuse reported.

"Let me be clear: the majority of the varsity boys lacrosse team was NOT involved in the incident from last week, nor were they aware of it ahead of time. Some may argue that all student-athletes shouldn't be punished for the actions of a few. While I understand that perspective, we must address the culture of the program, and the most appropriate way to do that is with a reset," he said.

"Hazing is an indefensible act," Dunham added. "As I shared previously, we will address inappropriate behavior that negatively impacts members of our school community promptly and appropriately according to our Code of Conduct."

Dunham said the district is cooperating with the district attorney's investigation.