A teenage girl was attacked by three students on a California middle school campus sparking fury among concerned parents.
Video of the horrific brawl showed a young girl in gray pants being beaten into the ground by a group of students on Friday at Sinaloa Middle School in Novato.
Eight girls between the ages of 12 to 14 were arrested in connection to the beating, Marin Independent Journalreported. Two students suffered injuries.
Parents said that this wasn't the first time a violent attack like this happened on school grounds, and that as past incidents were not fully addressed by school administrators.
'A fight is one thing, when someone's attacked by a group of people it needs to be dealt with a certain way and I feel like the school's turned their heard to it and they've minimalized it,'Jim McAlpine, a father of a student, told KTVU.
A girl is seen being beaten into the ground by three other teenagers atSinaloa Middle Schoolin Novato, California on Friday
The video shows the moment the vicious fight breaks out as one girl, dressed in gray pants and black hoodie, is seen being hit in the face by one girl before two other females join in.
In another clip, the three girls are still on top of the student as a male student steps in and seems to try to break it up.
As he does this, a student with a bright orange backpack moves toward the fight with another student as a large crowd is heard screaming in the background.
In an email addressing the incident, Sinaloa Middle School Principal Christy Stocker said that students knew that a fight would happen the day before and that the second student was injured when she tried to intervene.
'Yesterday, word apparently had spread among students that this fight was going to take place at lunch,' Stocker wrote.
'This resulted in a very large stampede of our students (several hundred of them) rushing around the campus to seek out the fight to watch it happen.'
She added that the 'mob' of students ran through the campus and caused others to fall and 'literally be run over by others'.
Sinaloa Middle School Principal Christy Stocker said that students knew that a fight would happen the day before and that the second student was injured when she tried to intervene
Jim McAlpine, a father of a student, said:'I feel like the school is trying to address the issue in a way that's not direct'
The principal added: 'Please know that severe consequences have been issued for the students culpable of causing physical harm to the other student.'
Novato Police Sgt. Alan Bates told Marin Independent Journal that the eight students were arrested and booked into the Marin County Juvenile Hall on suspicion of conspiracyto commit a crime and felony assault.
On Wednesday, staff at the juvenile detention center said that some of the unnamed students were still in custody, while others were released.
The two students, who have not been named, left with minor injuries were treated at a nearby hospital before being released, Bates said.
On Tuesday, more than 200 Sinaloa Middle School parents gathered at a community meeting at the school's library and addressed Stocker and a team of Novato Unified School District administrators.
During the meeting, parents of the two injured teens said that their kids are doing well physically but are shaken up emotionally, Marin Independent Journal reported.
Julie Synyard, Novato Unified executive director for educational services said: 'We are doing everything we can to keep our kids safe.'
Stocker told parents that the school is going to ban the use of cellphones to record videos, unless they send the footage anonymously to the STOPit app, which goes directly to police.
'From here on out, any filming on campus will have harsh consequences,' Stocker added.
The student in gray pants is seen being punched by others (left).Three girls ganged up on her as others watched on and screamed
Stocker said that a 'large stampede' of students rushed to the fight that broke out on school grounds
After the forum,McAlpine said: 'I feel like the school is trying to address the issue in a way that's not direct.'
'So, they don't want to make a lot of admissions, they're trying to avoid saying a lot of things- I believe they care, but they're caring a lot more about their reputation.'
McAlpine told KTVUthat his daughter is 'not happy to come to school somedays. To be a sixth grader coming to school being scared is a big, big problem,' McAlpine added.
Gina, a mom of a student said: 'We have boys who have volunteered information, they would get in there. They would help, but in today's society you can't they were worried about getting in trouble themselves.'
Bates said police are currently investigating the motive behind the massive brawl that he called 'schoolyard tension'.
