Students pepper sprayed during fight at Edgewater High School, prompting lockdown

ORLANDO, Fla. — A school resource officer used pepper spray on a pair of students fighting at Edgewater High School Thursday, Orange County Public Schools said.

A school administrator initially tried to separate the students, who were not identified, officials said.

When the administrator was unable to stop the fight outside the cafeteria, the SRO was called in, the district said.

"Everyone was just in a big brawl, it looked like," student Jake Hutcheson said.

Even when the officer got involved, the students refused to stop the fight and the SRO had resort to using pepper spray, the district said.

"When they pepper sprayed, it ended up going throughout the whole school. Like that whole crowd, everyone was pretty much affected by it," student Kaylyn Forman said.

"I ran away because I thought something bad was happening, so I dipped," Hutcheson said.

No information was released on how many students were affected by the spray, but a student estimated that it was close to 50 people.

"I've been coughing like since it happened and I threw up a little bit too. It was not a good thing at all," Forman said. "They should have not used that pepper spray because of how many people were honestly around us. It should not have happened. It was a really bad situation."

Orlando Police Department policy said pepper spray should only be used when officers believe they'll make an arrest.

The school was put on lockdown until the situation was under control, administrators said.

Additional details will be reported as they are received.

Cox Media Group