BROCKTON, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A wild, broad-daylight melee involving dozens of Brockton High School students is under investigation by police and school officials—and Brockton PD is investigating several of their own.
About 100 teenagers were involved in the fight on Florence Street Thursday afternoon, seen above in video posted by the Brockton Enterprise. Four of them were arrested.
The cell phone video appears to show an officer throwing a punch at one teen and tackling him to the ground. As a result, some residents and community leaders are calling for several of the arresting officers to be suspended.
Brockton Police are looking into whether or not their officers used excessive force.
Interim Superintendent of Brockton Schools Michael Thomas said he's waiting for the outcome of the operation before commenting on police involvement in the fight.
"Police will go through their internal affairs investigation to review the video tape, and interview the officers they need to interview," he said.
Many of the students, Thomas said, appeared to have been involved in other assaults earlier in the week. The Enterprise reported that Thursday marked the second consecutive day there was a brawl on Florence Street.
"It's very hard to be a teenager nowadays with the world of social media, and people spreading false rumors about each other through social media that leads to a lot of conflict," he said. "It's sad when that conflict turns into a physical altercation."
Thomas said the school department is taking the matter seriously, and conducting their own investigation into the brawl.
"We work hard with our students not to resolve their issues with using violence," he said. "We try to make sure we resolve issues peacefully. It's unfortunate when our students get involved in fights. It means we obviously have to work harder, do a better job."
WBZ NewsRadio's Kim Tunnicliffe (@KimWBZ) reports
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