School and police officials said that fights at Parkland High School weren't racially motivated, but warrants in the case repeatedly mention race, describing two groups of black and Hispanic students facing off

One warrant, filed by Parkland School Resource Officer Kraig Sandell, describes a Hispanic group confronting an African-American group. Another arrest warrant accuses a Hispanic student of provoking African-American students to engage in a physical confrontation, and another says that a Hispanic student was attempting to engage in a physical altercation with African-American students. Other warrants accuse at least two black students of provoking Hispanic students to react with violence or attempting to fight and provoke Hispanic students in the hallway. When Sandell and Principal Tim Lee laid out the details of the fights during a two-hour meeting with parents, they acknowledged that the fights were between black and Hispanic groups, but said that race wasn't a motivating factor. Since the fights, rumors have been rampant. Parents at the meeting said that they'd heard gangs were involved, that students were armed and that race was a key ingredient. Parkland's student body is about 50% black and 28% Hispanic.