Mailman remains in critical condition after school fights lead to serious crash in Henrico

HENRICO, Va. (WWBT) - A mailman is still fighting for his life after a high school brawl spiraled into a neighboring parking lot Friday.

The principal at Highland Springs High School, Dr. Kenneth White, addressed the altercation on Monday.

That principal admitted it was pretty traumatic for both students and teachers who witnessed it Friday even though it was an isolated incident.

Because of that, they’ve had counselors and other mental health resources on hand at school Monday.

“We’re talking about young people being emotionally charged. We’re still working through exactly the root cause of what happened,” White said.

White says the scuffle unraveled as students swarmed to exit the pep rally.

In an effort to stop anyone else from getting hurt, a School Resource Officer (SRO) deployed pepper spray into the crowd.

Two students were seen by the school nurse for minor injuries.

“We had a small group of young people who decided to get into a physical altercation from there and kind of spilled out into the community,” Dr. White said.

Other fights broke out around the school including at the Shopper’s Value next door.

Police say a woman driving an SUV sped through the parking lot and hit a mail truck flipping it and ejecting the mail carrier.

The postal worker was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries and two juveniles were also injured.

“We did in fact, have mental health support on hand, there was a traumatic experience with young people who were involved and for our staff,” White said.

White believes this incident shouldn’t define Springer Nation saying they won’t take away privileges and positive experiences for the student body as a whole due to the actions of a troubled few.

“We will not stop pep rallies and will not stop having all the positive things that we put in place to celebrate our young people,” White said. “Those students that cannot do what we ask them to do, we’ll be finding other alternatives and we will be working through consequences for their behaviors.”

The driver of the SUV, whose identity has not been released, is charged with reckless driving.

She is due in court in the next few days.

Other charges could be pending, not only for the driver but also the students involved.

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