Parents Fume After Kids Age 6 and Up Are Arrested

Parents in Murfreesboro, Tenn., are outraged after students as young as 6 years old were arrested, handcuffed, and briefly detained at a juvenile detention center Friday. Parents said at least five students ranging in age from 6 to 11 were arrested at Hobgood Elementary School because they allegedly failed to intervene and stop an earlier fight that happened off-campus in their neighborhood, the Daily News Journal reports. A local church hosted a community meeting about the incident Sunday afternoon, in which more than 150 people called for an investigation. The police chief says the department will review the incident.

A video of the fight was recorded, and police officers later tracked down students who didn't put a stop to the fight; it's not clear who shot the video or how the police got a hold of it. "Three people, three kids all having to be arrested, all having to be processed entered into the system and they didn’t do anything," says one father who claims his 9-, 10-, and 11-year-olds were arrested and booked into the detention center even though only one of them was present at the fight. At least one officer who was present for Friday's arrests apologized to parents at Sunday's meeting, WKRN reports. (More Tennessee stories.)