Sportsplex Brawl Update

The Gulfport Police Department continues to review the cell phone footage from Tuesday’s brawl at the Goldin Sportsplex. Chief Leonard Papania stresses the importance of stopping the violence instead of sharing it through social media.
Officers have not yet identified who fired the gun during yesterday’s brawl, but say countless citizens have called the Gulfport Police Department to identify individuals seen in the cell phone video circulating around the internet.
The initial fight apparently stemmed from an argument that occurred at Harrison Central High School earlier in the day.
What’s disturbing to both school officials and police is the fact students were more concerned with recording the fight than breaking up the fight. In this day and age, social media platforms are becoming somewhat of an addiction, especially among teenagers. Young adults go to great lengths to record something they feel will generate a large amount of likes, shares, comments or retweets.
Gulfport Police Chief Leonard Papania says the department will do its best to keep the sportsplex a safe area for everyone to enjoy, but feels this is a time for each person in the community to ask themselves ‘what can I do to help stop this problem?’ Chief Papania said, “Why is it that they’re so comfortable with this violence? Why is that? Why were they tripping over each other to get the best shot? And why when it was slowed down, they would egg it on? And why was it when shots were fired, they didn’t all leave? Because that same callous approach to violence leads to homicide.”
The primary video that was posted to Facebook has over 27,000 views in less than 24 hours.
Police will continue to review the footage until they find out who is responsible for certain criminal activities, but want to encourage students, parents, teachers and members of the Gulf Coast community to stop sharing, stop liking, stop retweeting, and start contributing toward the solution.