ECISD Police Officer Pepper Sprays Crowd of Rowdy Students

ODESSA, TX — An Ector County ISD police officer trying to break up a fight at Bowie Middle School during the sixth-grade lunch period pepper sprayed a group of students today.

The fight broke out in the cafeteria around noon Friday. Public Information Officer Mike Adkins said the officer was trying to break up a fight between four boys but a crowd of students surrounding the boys would not let him through.

Adkins said the officer gave the students several verbal warnings to get out of the way and let him through but they would not. So he pepper sprayed over the top of the crowd and the group dispersed.

The students involved in the fight will face disciplinary action under the Student Code of Conduct said Adkins. There are about 400 sixth-graders at Bowie and about 1,230 students on the campus.