Nearly 20 students pepper-sprayed during fight at middle school

DECATUR, Ga. — A school police officer pepper-sprayed middle school students, and parents are upset because they say school officials didn't tell them what happened.

The officer pepper-sprayed 18 students Wednesday afternoon at Miller Grove Middle School in Decatur, Georgia, according to school officials.

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Officials said the incident started when two boys got into a fight in the hallway. Three teachers tried to break up the fight, but couldn't.

"She started trying to break it up, and the seventh-graders started jumping (one of the teachers), so the security guard came and she started spraying the pepper spray," one student witness said.

Several students had surrounded the fight, and the officer sprayed into the air. School officials said she had no choice but to use the pepper spray to diffuse the situation.

"The pepper spray started getting in everyone's eyes, so they started jumping out the window trying to get to the ambulance and stuff, and this girl passed out," a student said.

The students who were sprayed were treated at the school.

“They were crying, and my granddaughter was hysterical on the phone," a student's grandparent said. "Even with her glasses on, her eyes were messed up."

Parents said they had no idea this happened and added that they should have been notified immediately.

"Yeah, they need to explain a little more about what happened -- the entire breakdown of the incident," parent Jackie Paulwell said, adding that she disagrees with the decision to use pepper spray.

The school sent a note home to parents Thursday, telling them what had happened and that pepper spray had been used because they couldn't get the situation under control.

Cox Media Group