Investigators Look Into Viral Video Of Brawl Following A High School Hockey Game
WEST GOSHEN TOWNSHIP, N.J., (CBS) -- Earlier Friday evening, police in West Goshen Township took several students into custody for underage drinking, but they are now looking to make at least one arrest following the violent brawl that took place among fans from two local high schools once the game was done.
Club Hockey teams from Springfield High School (Delaware Co.) and West Chester Rustin finished up a Flyers Cup Division A Championship game inside of the IceLine facility around 10:00 p.m.
"They are two wonderful hockey clubs, two great coaching staffs, two teams full of great player-athletes and it was a great game," said Jim Binns, IceLine's General Manager.
But an unfortunate turn that follow that came produced a violent encounter caught on-video. It has now been shared thousands of times online.
"These were not players. They were peers; fellow students of the respective teams," said Binns, "It's just an unfortunate situation."
While trying to break up the scuffle that occurred inside near the main entrance to the building a 19-year-old employee of IceLine was seriously injured. He can be seen in the video wearing a black shirt, being thrown to the ground and then kicked in the head.
"You get kicked in the face, you know that's going to cause substantial injury," said West Goshen Township Police Captain Gregory Stone.
Police say that they are looking at one or two Springfield fans, coming off a losing game, as the likely instigators.
"We did put two officers up there that night for security detail who were up there when this actually started but of course we needed extra officers because of the number of kids in this fight," he added.
Stone says that the number may go well above a dozen involved in total.
Springfield High School put out this statement on their website;
"The administration has been and continues to assist all appropriate authorities in bringing a resolution to the matter."
The West Chester Area School District Superintendent, Dr. Jim Scanlon told Eyewitness News over the phone;
"We are working to help identify those in the video but as it is not a Rustin High School sponsored-sport we do not have jurisdiction over potential discipline."
Binns notes that while they, like many other sports facilities have had major altercations in the past, they have never experienced anything like this.
"It's just a shame because it's really taken away from a great sport and a great game," he said.
Though the video that has gone viral online is short, the hockey facility was equipped with multiple cameras that caught the incident in its entirety. Investigators are now using that to identify persons-of-interest who may soon face criminal charges for the beating.
