South Carolina authorities continue to investigate a brawl after a high school basketball game in Ware Shoals.
Three people have been charged and more arrests are expected after a bench-clearing brawl at an Upstate high school basketball game.
According to one police report, a player from Tamassee-Salem High School used a racial slur while shaking hands at the end of the game against Ware Shoals High.
A Ware Shoals player then threw the first punch, and a brawl broke out on the floor, clearing the stands, police said. People were taken to the ground in the fight, including a couple of Ware Shoals police officers.
Those officers and several other people were injured in the brawl.
Tamassee-Salem coach and athletic director Ed Fry disagreed and said it wasn’t a racial slur that caused the first punch.
“There was no racial slur used in the shaking of hands line which led to the incident,” Fry said. “This information was backed by the WSH principal and athletic director, as well as information from the principal of Tammassee-Salem Middle School, Steve M.R. Moore, after players from both schools were interviewed.”