Students pepper-sprayed after fight breaks out at GCHS

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COLLIER COUNTY, Fla.- Students at Gulf Coast High School were pepper sprayed after a fight broke out.

It started out as a prank involving water balloons, but ended up in a fight with four students arrested.

A number of students shared videos of the aftermath with WINK News.

The Collier County School District tells us 21 students were treated by the school nurse and  four were arrested not for the school prank, but for fighting.

Cell phone video sent to WINK News shows students on the ground grasping.

It all started as a prank, seniors brought water balloons on campus to throw at other seniors. That’s when a fight broke out in the school’s courtyard.

The school district says staff was outnumbered. They say there were about 500 students to about 10 administrative staff members.

They had trouble breaking up the large crowd, that’s when a deputy at the school decided to use pepper spray.

Most of the students who were pepper sprayed say they weren’t involved, they were just nearby.

“I couldn’t breathe, I was on my knees, all fours, just coughing my lungs out. It was a really bad feeling, couldn’t breathe for a second, downing water after water, it didn’t help, it was really bad,” said senior Mario Moreno.

“It’s an unfortunate incident and other students had to be involved in it, but you know a fight in the middle of campus with 500 people is not ideal,” said Greg Turchetta, spokesman for the school district.

Two of the students were arrested for fighting, the other two for obstruction of justice.

The school district will contact parents letting them know what happened.

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