A lot of media attention has been given to the Friday, Oct. 7 fight between two – and at one point three – students at a Southern Guilford High School game, in part because the fight was caught on video and was quite intense.

In fact, it was so intense that the school resource officer – a deputy with the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department assigned to protect school students and staff – ended up using a good deal of pepper spray to put an end to the fight.

On Monday, Oct. 10, the Guilford County Sherriff’s Department released its official statement regarding the fight and the use of pepper spray on the students. The release also notes that the department will not be offering any other comments regarding the matter.

The statement reads, “On Friday, October 7, 2022, at approximately 9:00 p.m., a fight occurred between two juveniles at a Southern Guilford High School football game. As deputies from the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office were making their way toward the fight, a large crowd quickly formed around the two juveniles. The School Resource Officer (SRO) assigned to Southern Guilford was actively engaged in trying to separate the two, when a third subject inserted themselves into the fight. Pepper spray was utilized by the SRO to separate the individuals as they were refusing to comply with the officer’s commands to disengage. This successfully ended the fight and dispersed the crowd which had gathered around it.”

The Guilford County Sheriff’s Office provides a law enforcement presence at all Guilford County Schools high school football games.

Southern Guilford is the same high school where, in May of 2021, one of the most famous fights in the history of Guilford County Schools occurred: Eight people – including an adult – walked onto campus and assaulted a 14-year-old girl in her classroom.

In the Oct. 7 fight at the Southern Guilford football game, all the combatants were juveniles.

The Sheriff’s Department reported that no injuries were caused as a result of the pepper spray, however, the two juveniles in the initial fight had “minor injuries related to the fight.”

The statement this week from the department is all that can be expected.

“Because the individuals involved were juveniles, N.C. General Statute 7B-3100 precludes the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office from releasing any further information concerning our investigation, its outcome, or juvenile court action taken, if any,” the statement reads.