More than 30 students and faculty members at a Florida high school were rushed to the hospital Thursday after a school safety officer unleashed pepper spray to break up a wild brawl among youths.
The Lake Worth High School cop deployed the irritant around noon to stop the out-of-control fight, but wound up catching more than three dozen pupils and educators with the burning spray.
The pepper spray sent 32 people to four nearby hospitals for treatment. Another 10 to 12 people requested treatment at the scene but did not go to the hospital, a Palm Beach County School District spokesperson told The Palm Beach Post.
The Palm Beach County Fire Rescue responded to the “fight and pepper spray” incident and originally estimated 20 to 30 people were “treated and transported to area hospitals,” according to its post on X.
The scene wasn’t cleared until around 3 p.m., according to the rescue squad — hours after the fight first started.
The students responsible for the brawl won’t get away with causing such chaos scot-free, school officials said.
“I want to take this opportunity to emphasize that physical altercations are a serious violation of the Student Code of Conduct. The students involved are now facing disciplinary consequences. Fighting or any form of physical aggression is not tolerated at school or any School District property,” Lake Worth High School Principal Elena Villani said in a statement obtained by the local outlet.
It’s unclear what sparked the fight or where it took place on campus.
Roughly 2,000 students are enrolled at Lake Worth High School, located in the heart of Palm Beach.
The school has made headlines for past issues of delinquency — and not just among the wild teenagers.
In 2023, an AP course instructor at the school was canned after he likened different students’ skin tones to types of coffee roasts.
The teacher said he picked up on banter between two students and decided to butt in, explaining that “if they were going to make fun of each other,” they might as well get “creative.”
He admitted it was “stupid of him” to do, but by then it was too late.
The post 32 students, faculty hospitalized after pepper spray deployed during wild brawl at Florida high school appeared first on New York Post.
