100-Student Brawl at Penns Grove High Injures 4, Including Cop

Class came to a violent end at Penns Grove High School in Carneys Point on Friday when a large-scale fight involving at least 100 students injured three students and a police officer.

Carneys Point Police in a statement said officers on a routine check of the campus at the end of the school day discovered a large student fight in progress in a hallway near the gym. Police were unable to end the fight as students refused orders to leave the area and began to yell at officers who called for backup.

According to the statement, officers from several surrounding towns, including the Salem County Sheriff's Office, New Jersey State Police and the Delaware Memorial Bridge Police, were need to help Carney Point police break up the fight. A "mob" of students surrounded the vice president of the school, who was fighting with one of the students, the report stated. Police were eventually able to escort students off school grounds and bring the situation under control.

Five students were charged with failure to disperse, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and obstruction. More charges could be filed as police continue to screen surveillance video of the fight.

Giordano said that a press release account of the fight was posted on the department's Facebook page, inciting "really ugly" comments. The page was subsequently taken down.