In the end, it would take about 150 law enforcement officials, including K-9 units, a SWAT team and air support to get the situation under control as other teens joined the melee. The staff also had to be evacuated from the compound as the chaos ensued. Investigators say no juveniles escaped during the riot thankfully, but seven teens did have to be taken to a nearby hospital with injuries ranging from a broken leg to cuts and a concussion. No staffers or law enforcement officials were injured.
Staff at the Avon Park Youth Academy are forbidden from using specialty equipment, including pepper spray, which would have allowed them to deal with the fight before it escalated, authorities said. The facility is a 144-bed, moderate-risk program for males in the juvenile justice system between the ages of 16 and 19 years old. Teens are taught job skills and receive mental health and substance abuse treatment, according to a spokeswoman from the Department of Juvenile Justice. One of the damaged buildings was the office that stored all of the teens juvenile records.
