"These people came looking for the person who stole the sneakers," the senior from Mount Airy said. "It's a strange coincidence. It's really ironic."
Three Masterman students were injured, including an 18-year-old senior who was treated for head wounds and released from a hospital. The student, who was not identified by the school or police, needed stitches for injuries he suffered when he was struck from behind and hit his head. He described the unexpected assault during yesterday's assembly.
Bryan Stephenson, a junior from West Philadelphia who knows the students who were jumped, said the attack made the program more powerful.
"It affected us a lot more," Stephenson, 17, said. "It had more of an impact."
Classmate Jordan Gifford, 16, of South Philadelphia, agreed. "I think it came closer to home because . . . the kids who went through it were the kids who were doing the performance."
"Everyone seemed so sincere and heartfelt," said Sam Margulies, a senior from East Falls. "You could tell it was not rehearsed."
Police arrested an 18-year-old Benjamin Franklin High School student and two 13-year-old Waring School students for their alleged roles in the attack, which occurred shortly after 4:30 p.m. Monday at 17th and Spring Garden Streets. At that time, the Masterman students were shooting video for their skit.
A police spokeswoman yesterday could not confirm the Masterman students' account that stolen sneakers were behind the attack.
District spokesman Fernando Gallard said it appeared the assaults were the result of a case of mistaken identity.
The youths pointed at the Masterman students and asked one another, "Is that him? Is that him?" Gallard said, and then they began punching three of the students.
"They seemed to be looking for someone," Gallard said, "and when they didn't find him, picked a fight anyway."
