Students pepper sprayed by cops breaking up fight inside high school, NC police say

Pepper spray was used by school resource officers to break up a group of students fighting in a high school hallway, according to North Carolina police.

Fifteen students were treated for the effects of pepper spray after the fight at South Central High School in Greenville on Sept. 29, according to WITN.

The male students began fighting at around noon in a hallway, WNCT reported.

The Greenville Police Department tweeted at 12:30 pm on Sept. 29 that rumors of a stabbing at the school had been circulating, but were not true.

“Several” students had been treated for the effects of the pepper spray, but no “significant injuries” were reported, according to the police department.

When pepper spray “comes into contact with a person’s eyes, it causes immediate eye closure, acute eye pain, and temporary blindness,” according to Medical News Today. It can also respiratory distress, gagging and dizziness.

South Central High School principal, Janarde Cannon, did not immediately return a request for comment on Sept. 29.

Detectives were looking through security camera footage to try to identify who was involved in the fight.

South Central High School serves grades 9-12 and has an enrollment of 1,617, according to U.S. News and World Report.

Greenville is about 80 miles east of Raleigh.

This story was originally published September 29, 2022 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Students pepper sprayed by cops breaking up fight inside high school, NC police say."