A high school basketball game in Arapahoe County on Wednesday night ended with multiple fights that sent one person to a hospital.
The fights happened about 8:40 p.m. at Eaglecrest High School, 5100 S. Picadilly St., as the game between Eaglecrest and Smoky Hill High School was ending, Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson deputy John Bartmann said.
Several off-duty Arapahoe County deputies were working at the game when the fights broke out and called for more law enforcement to break up the fights, Bartmann said. At the same time, numerous people called 911 to report the fights.
A minute-long blurred video of the fight reported by Denver7 on Thursday shows a group of people fighting outside the school, with one person picked up and thrown to the ground and others piling on top of them. At the end of the video, a bystander yells at someone to call an ambulance.
Lauren Snell, a spokesperson for the Cherry Creek School District, which both high schools are part of, in an email said the district was aware of two fights that happened.
Once the deputies stopped the fights, they found a male victim suffering injuries who was taken to a hospital, Bartmann said. The male, for whom Bartmann could not give an age, was alert and talking when he went to the hospital.
Snell said that person was not a student at either school.
Deputies do not know how many people were involved in the fights.
“Violence of any kind is not tolerated in the Cherry Creek School District, and anyone found to be involved in fights will face serious disciplinary consequences and may face legal repercussions as well,” Gwen Hansen-Vigil, Eaglecrest High School principal, said in an email to students.
Early rumors circulating there was a shooting or stabbing at the game were not true, Bartmann said, and deputies have not arrested anyone yet.
They believe it was a one-off incident, he said.
Snell said the district is cooperating with the sheriff’s office investigation.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 19, 2024 to add information about a video of the fight reported by Denver7.
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