‘We cannot allow this to happen’ – Hawley speaks out on violent fight near Hazelwood East HS

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ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – One teenager remains hospitalized with serious injuries, and another was arrested after a fight last Friday near Hazelwood East High School.

A viral video shows those two teenagers and other students fighting near the school last week. The St. Louis County Police Department is investigating the matter. Due to its graphic nature, FOX 2 is not showing the video.

Missouri U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley addressed the situation with FOX 2 during a one-on-one conversation Tuesday. Hawley calls the fight “horrific,” and says there needs to be change.

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“We pray for the girl who is in the hospital and recovering,” said Hawley. “The video is incredibly hard to watch. A jury needs to see that. We’ve got to send a message. This isn’t fun and games. This isn’t some little dispute on a sports field. This was an all-out assault, and we can not allow that to happen.”

Hawley hopes for tough prosecution of the arrested teenager.

“I hope the prosecutors will get tough here and do the right thing, which is to try the individual as an adult and protect kids at school,” said Hawley. “Sometimes horrific things happen that are accidental. That wasn’t this. This is clearly intentional.”

Hawley says he would support a federal mandate for more school resource officers in hopes of preventing situations like this.

“I’m in favor of doing for our schools what we do for sporting events,” said Hawley. “If it’s good enough for some football games to have a security presence, to have cops, to have security cameras, surely it’s good enough for our kids.”

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He continued, “This is about protecting kids. People got to be safe in these schools. I think that, my gosh, this happened in broad daylight, people were filming it. Goodness gracious, we’ve got to do something about this.”

The Hazelwood School District has extended its condolences and offered additional support to those affected, emphasizing the need for community-wide efforts to address bullying and violence. St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell expressed his dismay and hope for the victim’s recovery.

Police say they are investigating multiple threats from a fallout of the video, leading to early dismissal Monday at the high school.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.