Raleigh, N.C. — Despite recent violent events, Enloe High School is among one of the safer schools in the district, Wake County officials said.

“Enloe is below the average of incidents per 1,000 students,” said Russ Smith, director of security for the Wake County Public School System.

For the 2007-2008 school year, the average crimes in all Wake County High Schools per 1,000 students was a little more than 15, according to school system numbers. Enloe’s average is nearly half that.

“We feel like all of our schools are safe,” Smith said.

While gang activity in Wake County schools is up more than 50 percent over the last three years, Enloe has seen a decrease from 18 incidents in 2006 to 11 incidents in 2008.

In September, a gang-related fight broke out outside of the school. Eight students were charged in the brawl. Late last month, a student was beaten and kicked outside the school, police said.

“One of the suspects was said to be holding a cell phone in a way that would make it appear he was using it to capture pictures or capture video,” Raleigh Police spokesman Jim Sughrue said.

Parent Paul Keadle remembers other crimes around the school.

“We had a child get mugged after a football game in the parking lot with all kind of people around,” Keadle said.

Fellow Enloe parent Annie Robbins thinks the crime is “to be expected at a high school that big.”