SOUTH ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MO (KMOV/CNN) – An assistant principal at a Missouri high school who tried to break up a fight instead got beaten up by the students himself, a video of the altercation appears to show.
The video was taken on Tuesday at Oakville High School in South St. Louis County.
The principal said it started in the cafeteria with a fight among three students. When staff members intervened, matters only escalated.
The video, which was posted to Snapchat, shows Assistant Principal Brian Brennan getting violently taken down.
Students are shown pulling and hitting Brennan for more than 10 seconds.
Another staff member tries to help, but also gets caught in the brawl.
Moments later, a school resource officer struggles to get a hold of the students.
County police confirmed a 15-year-old and two 16-year-olds were taken into custody. Police said an administrator was taken to urgent care.
The school’s principal, Jan Kellerman, issued a statement to parents saying all staff and students are OK.
"I feel everything was done according to policy,” the statement said.
Kellerman said all administrators are trained in restraint and that safety is the school's top priority.
"It’s the most important thing we do here and all our students are safe,” she said.
Some parents are wondering if more can be done when it comes to social media.
"Somehow to get control of their use of that media at school,” a parent said. “I understand some students need their phones for emergency contact or whatever. I don't know, but something needs to happen."
As police investigate, administrators are assessing school policies to prevent another incident.
"After any kind of altercation we always discuss things like is there something else we need to be doing,” Kellerman said.
School officials could not say what started the fight or if it was targeted at a staff member.
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