Massive school brawl involving 200 people leads to hospitalized officer, 10 arrests

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB/Gray News) - A massive brawl broke out Wednesday morning on a school campus in Louisiana resulting in a hospitalized officer and multiple arrests.

Baton Rouge officials said 10 people were arrested at East Baton Rouge Readiness Alternative School after multiple fights involving both students and parents broke out across the school’s grounds.

According to the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, the EBRP School Board Security responded shortly after 8 a.m. to reports of a major campus disturbance in the courtyard outside the school’s gym. Additional help was requested after the security staff discovered around 200 students and parents fighting.

Officials said a Baton Rouge police officer was seriously injured and taken to a hospital with a broken hip and head lacerations.

Police charged three students with battery on a police officer, which is a felony.

WAFB reports the officer was the only person taken to a hospital, but other injuries were also reported, including an East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff’s deputy, who was punched in the face.

Authorities said they found a loaded gun in the grassy area in front of the school during the fight.

A total of 10 arrests were made by the responding departments. The ages of those arrested ranged from 15 to 18 years old.

In a statement released following the campus-wide fight, the East Baton Rouge Parish School System said fighting originally broke out between two female students before escalating to include more students and eventually non-student adults. The adults arrived on the campus after they received text messages about the initial fight from people on the campus.

The school system said it will continue to cooperate with the authorities to review evidence of what led to the situation, and will work with them to provide increased security.

The NAACP of Baton Rouge also released a statement condemning the participants of the fight as well as the responding law officers who were caught on video striking students involved in the fight.

The school is an alternative school home to students in grades 9-12 who were suspended or expelled from other East Baton Rouge Parish public schools.

The EBR Schools director of communication said the school remains open with increased security.

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