TIFTON – A fight between students at Tift County High School on Tuesday morning ended with eight students facing disciplinary action and the school resource officer being injured.

Jody Abad, a school resource officer with Tift County High School, was injured in a fight, according to the Tifton Police Department.

Abad was attempting to break up the fight when he was injured, according to TPD.

The extent of his injuries has not been released.

Abad is being evaluated to see the extent of his injuries and to determine how best to treat them.

Abad is a “fantastic officer that we thoroughly enjoy working with and (we) wish him a speedy recovery,” said Stacey Beckham, communications director for the Tift County Board of Education.

The fight, which place at around 7:45 a.m. at the school, stemmed from an incident that happened outside of school, according to Beckham

While Beckham said she could not comment on any student issues, she said that any students who would be involved in any violent incident would be facing punishment from both the school system and local law enforcement.

“We want a safe environment (at the schools) just as much as a parent does,” Beckham said. “Our goal is to educate everyone and that’s what we want to do, but this type of behavior is completely unacceptable.”

Beckham added that no students were injured in the altercation.

A video of the incident has made the rounds on social media.

While the school is still investigating the root cause of the fight, a possible connection concerns a 17-year-old that was arrested and charged Tuesday with battery on a school official as well as purchase, possession, manufacture, distribution or sale of marijuana.

While Beckham emphasized that they are not sure if drugs are connected to the incident, she said that School Superintendent Patrick Atwater has been communicating with the Tift County Sheriff’s Department about the issue of drugs in the schools.

According to Beckham, TCSO allegedly told the school system that the department is severely understaffed and is having a difficult time addressing the problem in the community at large.

“Our school system is a representation of what goes on in our community,” Beckham said. “This was an issue that spilled over from our community to our school. That is something we are going to have to continue to look at as a community as a whole.”

A comment on Facebook made by a substitute teacher for the Tift County school system in the aftermath of the fight has come under scrutiny for alleged racist language.

“Issues have been brought to our attention concerning [the teacher’s] social media presence and we are currently investigating and dealing with it,” said Beckham.