PALM COAST, Fla. — Nearly a dozen Florida high school students face charges for their part in a massive brawl Monday afternoon at the school.
Three students at Matanzas High School were handcuffed in the aftermath and face felony charges, including resisting law enforcement and battery. Law enforcement says it recommended to the state attorney's office that the other eight students face misdemeanor charges.
It all started around 1 p.m. Monday. The Flagler County Sheriff's Office said two school resource deputies responded to a "disturbance" in the hallway between two of the campus buildings.
When they got there, deputies said they found a large crowd of students in the hallway watching several other students fight. Along with teachers and school administrators, the deputies said they immediately tried to break up the fight and disperse the onlooking students.
During the fight, a 14-year-old student pushed one of the deputies so she could attack another student. The deputy quickly grabbed the student and placed her in handcuffs. She was arrested for disorderly conduct, disruption of a school function and resisting a law enforcement officer with violence, a felony.
At the same time, the sheriff's office said the other deputy, while working to "control the situation," saw a 17-year-old student run into the fight. The student reportedly charged at a school employee "while swinging his arms" and punched the staff member in the shoulder. The staff member was reportedly able to detain the student until deputies could arrest and handcuff him. The student was arrested for felony battery of a school official.
Additionally, as a school administrator was trying to escort a student away from the fight, another 17-year-old student ran up to the admin, grabbed them and continued battering the employee until he was taken to the dean's office. He was arrested for disorderly conduct and felony battery on a school official.
10 Tampa Bay is not naming these teens based on their ages.
Misdemeanor charges were filed with the state attorney's office for the remaining students, including breach of peace and disturbance of a school function.
The chaos was caught on body camera video, of which about 2 and a half minutes were blurred and released by the sheriff's office.
“The lack of respect demonstrated by these students is simply shameful,” Sheriff Rick Staly said in a statement. “But actions have consequences. Parents, be the Sheriff in your home and teach your kids the importance of respecting teachers, staff, and deputies. Teach them how to handle disagreements and that fighting only leads to more violence. We have a zero-tolerance policy for violence at schools, and you will be arrested. I also commend our School Resource Deputies and the Matanzas High School staff for quickly getting a very volatile situation under control before anyone was seriously hurt.”
Last week a 16-year-old student was arrested at the school after allegedly biting a staff member as the employee was trying to break up a fight between her and another student.
Flagler Schools Superintendent LaShakia Moore said, “I agree with what our Sheriff has said in the past; this type of behavior is not to be tolerated by anyone. That said, these actions are not indicative of the thousands of students who come to our campuses each and every day to learn.
"There are so many students, teachers, administrators, and staff who work every day to promote and celebrate a positive school culture at their schools. This is an opportunity for our parents and guardians to reinforce the good choices their children decide to make and remind them why it is important to be successful in life."