8 arrested following fight at Abington Senior High School

ABINGTON, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- A fight inside Abington Senior High School on Thursday morning ended with eight teenagers arrested.

There were no serious injuries thanks to the quick response of Abington police's school resource officers.

The teens face serious charges, including riot and simple assault.

Abington's Police Chief Patrick Molloy says the fight is one of many between the same two groups of students.

"Our juvenile detectives have been dealing with two groups of young teens over the last seven months that have been dealing with altercations, other crimes," said Molloy.

Many of the fights stem from sparring through social media posts and escalate to more serious crimes.

Abington police also said one of the ongoing arguments between groups is over the death of 16-year-old Abington High School student Keivon Abraham, who was shot to death in Philadelphia in May.

Molloy and Pastor Marshall Mitchell, of The Salem Baptist Church, are working together and bringing in community mentors, specifically at the request of parents of many of the students involved in the fights.

"We need our children to understand the life-changing consequences of a video, " said Mitchell.

Molloy said over the last several weeks they've had mediations where they brought the teens in with police, school administration and 40 community mentors.

"We operate a Police Athletic League, so what we're saying is we're going to double down on what we're doing on a part-time basis," said Mitchell.

He says that will include mental health services and programs that will provide strong role models and mentors among other ideas.

"Children have also seen things on the internet, social media ... it's actually taking an enormous toll on our children," added Mitchell.