WOONSOCKET — Police and school officials from Providence and Woonsocket are taking steps to address what some are calling a gang-related feud after two fights occurred outside Woonsocket Middle School this week.

According to police reports, the conflict involves Laos Pride and True Laotian Soldiers, groups from Providence and Woonsocket who antagonized each other in person and over the Internet in the days leading up to Wednesday’s fight, when a 14-year-old Woonsocket boy wearing brass-knuckles beat a 15-year-old Providence boy.

Police Chief Michael L.A. Houle said he has not determined whether the groups involved are organized gangs, and that the department is still investigating the matter.

“There’s definitely a group from Providence and there’s definitely a group from Woonsocket who have some beef going on with each other,” he said.

Woonsocket Schools Supt. Maureen B. Macera, who met yesterday with gang specialist Lt. John Reis, a former commander of the Providence Police Department’s Youth Services Bureau, said that she is working with Providence Supt. Donnie W. Evans to resolve the “community-based issue.”

“We’re just going to try to strategize ways to work with these kids and see if there can be some type of conflict resolution,” she said.

Providence School Department spokeswoman Maria Tocco said that Providence school officials have also contacted the Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence, which addresses youth and gang violence.

“Everybody’s being vigilant about keeping our fingers on the pulse of the situation,” she said.

The Woonsocket boy was charged with felony assault with a dangerous weapon and ordered to spend the night at the Training School, according to police reports. The victim was taken to Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence with serious but not life-threatening-injuries, according to Detective Lt. Timothy Paul.

Another 14-year-old Providence boy was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct for refusing to cooperate with detectives who questioned him about the incident, Paul said.

The attacker told the police that he belongs to a gang called True Laos Soldiers and that the alleged victim, a member of Laos Pride, had “talked bad” about his group, according to a report by Detective Sgt. Robert R. Moreau, with the department’s Juvenile Division.

The event follows an incident on Monday afternoon, when Detective Sgt. Peter J. Hopkins responded to Hamlet and Harrison streets, a block from the middle school, for a fight. He reported seeing more than 150 students wearing blue and white, colors associated with one of the Laotian gangs.

“Even to the casual observer, the representation of blue and white was overwhelming,” he said in the report.

Two Providence boys were arrested for fighting in that incident and charged with disorderly conduct. One of the boys told the police that he punched another boy because the two had talked about each other on their Myspace pages.

Police officials provided little information about the feuding groups yesterday, but The Providence Journal has reported numerous violent incidents involving Laotian gangs in recent years. Five Woonsocket teenagers from a gang called Laotians Out of Control were arrested for killing one Providence man and wounding two others during a drive-by shooting in Providence in 2002.

Teny Gross, executive director of the Providence-based non-violence institute, said that there has been a long-standing tension between Laotian communities in Providence and Woonsocket. The institute will be doing outreach with the victim’s family and the Laotian community in Providence. It may also mediate between the two parties to try to reach a solution, Gross said.

Hearing rumblings of a possible retaliation yesterday, Houle said other police officials were on hand at the middle school yesterday. As hundreds of students poured out of the school, principal Patrick McGee said he has questioned a number of children about the incident and sent several students home early with their parents.

“It was really for their own safety,” he said. No additional incidents were reported yesterday.

Looking ahead, Macera said she is meeting on Tuesday with Houle, Moreau, and other police officials, and has banned students from wearing clothes with gang-related colors to school.

“Gang colors will not be permitted, gang paraphernalia of any kind will not be permitted,” she said.

“We will be very vigilant on this and see if we can have a positive effect,” Macera said.

With reports by Journal Staff Writer Linda Borg

khayes@projo.com