SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

SPRINGFIELD, Florida — 16 students have been arrested following a massive fight caught on video at Rutherford High School.

Bay County Sheriff deputies responded to the scene at around 1:30pm Monday following a call from the school’s resource officer asking for help.

Police said around 50 students were fighting in the courtyard.

A motive behind the melee is unclear but officials believe the scuffle was gang related.

“We do believe that it had, that it was gang related. You know that it was a conflict between two members of differing gangs. And that’s just not something that we’re going to have a tolerance for,” Sheriff Tommy Ford said.

While officials say school fights are on the rise, Superintendent Bill Husfelt said there isn’t much the district can do to prevent them.

“Social media is the driving factor of most of what we’re dealing with. Because they want to get a video, they want to get it out there, they want to do something that’s been challenged on there. Some of this we also know is gang-related, so you take all those things together and there’s nothing we can do to prevent it,” Husfelt said.