An argument between two students spiraled into 12 hospitalizations and a brief lockdown of Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach on Thursday afternoon, officials said.
About 12 p.m., two students were having an argument in a common area when one of the students used pepper spray, according to John Sullivan, a spokesperson for the Broward County School District. The two students and several other students in the vicinity were hit by the pepper spray and taken to the hospital.
Pompano Beach Fire Rescue took 12 students to Broward Health North, according to spokesperson Sandra King. All were in stable condition Thursday afternoon.
Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Howard Hepburn told reporters Thursday that the argument was a continuation of an altercation between a group of students that had taken place the day prior at a neighborhood park.
Meanwhile, after the pepper-spray incident, parents of some of the students began showing up at the school. One of them did not follow staff instructions and tried to go onto the school campus without permission, Hepburn said, forcing the staff to briefly lock down the school.
The student who used the pepper spray will face discipline, Sullivan said.
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