Virginia State students respond to food fight that led to student brawl
ETTRICK, VA (WWBT) - Twenty Chesterfield police officers joined Colonial Heights, Petersburg and State police officers to respond chaos overnight at Virginia State University after a food fight led to several brawls on campus.
The end of semester celebration turned so explosive VSU leaders were forced to send a campus alert telling students to shelter in place.
It was supposed to be an event to unite the campus with free food at midnight.
"It's basically to relax," said student Brianna Dunlap. "Finals are this week. Students are uptight studying, stressed so the 'Midnight
Breakfast' is bringing people and food together to gather.
That's why she decided to show up, not imagining what would happen next.
"It was so sudden we didn't know what was going on," she said.
Campus leaders say at some point during the breakfast, some students began throwing food. That led to separate fights breaking out. More than 20 Chesterfield officers joined state police and other agencies responding to break up the crowd with more than 1,000 spectators.
"I was there and I just stood still. I don't move in those kind of moments," said student Lauren Papillion.
"Our protocols were immediately enacted and allowed for order to be quickly restored and were effective in ensuring the safety of our students," said school spokesman Tom Reed.
It took about an hour to get things under control.
"It just makes me question the real reason you came to college. Are you coming to college to get an education or are you coming to college to impress the person next to you," asked student Ray Burnett who actually organized the event.
He doesn't want the actions of some to reflect negatively on the entire university.
"I love VSU just as bad as any other person on this campus. They love it or they wouldn't be here," Burnett said.
Chaos on campus following what was supposed to be stress-free event.
"I guess they had fun with their little food fight," Dunlap said.
VSU has offered a "Midnight Breakfast" event just before finals for several years now. No word if the event will be restructured in the future in light of this recent episode.
Despite the disruption, investigators say no one was arrested during the incident.
Copyright 2015 WWBT NBC12. All rights reserved
