Two ambulances and about a dozen law enforcement vehicles responded to a call of violence at Charleston Middle School early Tuesday afternoon.
East Tallahatchie School District Superintendent Johnnie Vick, speaking to a reporter outside the school at about 1:20 p.m., said the incident was "a student-initiated fight," stressing that "no weapons were involved."
Vick said the altercation was reported to him at 12:57 p.m.
Ambulance service was called "as a precaution," but, in the end, no one required medical transportation, he added.
"Thankfully, nobody was seriously injured," Vick noted. "Nobody [went] to the hospital."
In the wake of the episode, the superintendent said students at the school, which houses grades 5-8, were dismissed to their parents.
Vick said Tuesday that he did not yet know in which area of the school the altercation occurred or the number of students who participated in the scrum.
Officials hoped video from some of the many surveillance cameras located throughout the school building would be helpful in determining exactly what happened and who was involved, the superintendent noted.
Vick said a "thorough investigation" was underway and that the school would be "totally transparent" with the findings.
"It was an isolated incident that is being handled according to district policy," he added. "The goal is to make sure our students are safe."
Contacted by text at 6:28 p.m. Tuesday, Vick declined to address a social media report that suggested Tuesday's violence was the outgrowth of a school bullying incident.
"At this time, I cannot comment," he noted. "We are truly still investigating."
CMS houses about 300 students in grades 5-8.
Tallahatchie County Sheriff Jimmy Fly, who said he was in his Charleston office early Tuesday afternoon when he was notified of the incident, stated he was "called by the dispatcher on the phone about a subject out at the school having a seizure, and a possible riot."
After arriving at the school and sizing up the situation for himself, Fly said he tried to call off other approaching law enforcement units but they were already en route and closing in on the scene.
Police came from Charleston, Sumner and Webb, a school safety officer traveled from the West Tallahatchie School District, and a posse of both on-duty and off-duty sheriff's office personnel answered the call, with one deputy at the scene saying, "We heard riot, and we came running."
Fly characterized the incident as "a disturbance" involving "several" students. At least one student with a "medical condition" apparently began to suffer seizures, he added, saying that is why an ambulance was summoned.
At 1:10, a second ambulance was directed to the school by a medical dispatcher who radioed that there had been an "assault" and the first ambulance crew needed "help transporting multiple patients."
Fly said he appreciated the prompt response and offers of assistance by law enforcement and medical personnel "from across the county."
