CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Students arriving at Carroll High School Thursday morning will be greeted with extra security after several fights broke out among students in the school's cafeteria.
The situation prompted CCISD police to use pepper spray to gain control of the situation between a handful of students.
A message went out to parents Wednesday afternoon from the school about the situation after videos of the altercation made the rounds on social media.
3NEWS chose to blur the video because of the ages of the students and the violence that unfolded on camera.
Carroll High School Principal Robert Arredondo told 3NEWS that the situation called for quick action.
"It was handled swiftly under a minute, in this case pepper spray was deemed necessary by law enforcement to gain control of the situation," he said.
Arredondo told 3NEWS that appropriate disciplinary action has since been taken against the students involved. The school was placed on a brief hold, but was never on lockdown.
No one was taken to the hospital as a result of Wednesdays fights despite ambulances being seen outside the school.
"We wanted to go the extra step, we delayed our lunch shift by 30 minutes for the air to clear and for no remnants to remain in the air," he said.
Carroll has four security guards at the school. The fight prompted additional officers from CCPD to respond for extra support, but would ultimately not be needed.
A Carroll High School student told 3NEWS that she feels unsafe being on campus.
"It happened yesterday, there was two fights yesterday, there are fights everyday, more than one," she said. "It's getting to the point I feel threatened going to school. Pepper spray has been involved I think one other time. The teachers can't do anything at this point," the student said.
Arredondo said that the safety of students on campus is paramount.
"We want all our students to feel safe each and every day coming to campus, it begins with our teachers, they are at the doors greeting our students, faculty administrators, we are always visible, our fist line of defense, if you hear of any danger always talk to a trusted adult and we'll handle it," he said.
CCISD Police Chief Kirby Warnke said the officers use of pepper spray is sometimes their safest course of action because of the intensity of the fight.
"Every situation is its own, and officers are trained to make decisions, very quickly and with very little time," he said. "So the decision was to deploy pepper spray to bring the melee under control as quick as possible."
Nueces County Precinct 1 Judge Joe Benavides said many of the fight videos are used as evidence in his court and tells 3 NEWS he has seen a rise of assault cases that end with legal consequences.
"It's not only one school, it's all over Nueces county, all the ISDs, it's starting to grow, I don't know what it is, social media," he said.
CCISD said there is a 24 hour tip line to report unsafe conditions by calling or texting 361-631-1011 or by emailing speakup@ccisd.us.
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