Lincoln High disrupted by brawl between student and staff member, sparking investigation
An altercation between a student and a staff member at Lincoln High School is being investigated by the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, according to the Leon County School District and the high school’s administration.
Portions of the fight, which broke out at around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday during lunch time, were recorded by several students and shared by concerned parents on social media.
School officials say the altercation began after a student attacked a hall monitor and took her phone.
The video, circulating on social media and text threads, begins shortly after and shows a large crowd of students in the cafeteria surrounding a woman and a student wrestling on the ground. The woman, wearing a purple shirt and black pants, appears to kick a female student, who is wearing a white shirt, pink jacket and blue jeans off of her as she lay on the ground.
Several students surrounding the brawl successfully break up the fight pulling both individuals away from each other. After the student is pulled away, she walks off, and the staff member stands up and searches the crowd for her. Once she finds her, she engages in the squabble again, pulling her hair as the student then punches her.
The two are separated again, and the person recording follows the staff member, who then tells another student that she needs to find her phone. She appears disoriented.
The chaotic minute-long video has been confirmed to be the ending of the fight; it’s not clear how long it lasted.
Lincoln High School Assistant Principal Jennifer Tibbitts emailed parents through the school system’s FOCUS portal at 1:50 p.m. to inform them of the incident.
“Today at lunch there was an incident involving a student and staff member. Other school staff and our school resource officers responded immediately. This incident is being investigated by Leon County Sheriff’s office and will be handled accordingly,” the message said.
A Leon County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson was not available to provide details.
Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil, Schools Superintendent Rocky Hanna and school board members had announced Wednesday – before the fight – a tour of district high schools to discuss safety and security concerns with students. A visit to Lincoln High was scheduled for Friday.
The latest security incident comes at a tense time at Leon County Schools, which has been grappling with non-credible threats that have caused students to skip school and a rash of arrests of students with weapons on campus.
There has been a surge of violent threats around Florida and the nation after a school shooting near Atlanta on Sept. 4 left four dead and nine injured.
Alaijah Brown covers children & families for the Tallahassee Democrat. She can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter/X: @AlaijahBrown3.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Sheriff’s Office investigating Lincoln High brawl in school cafeteria
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