A group of teenagers turned a vacant parking lot into a battleground Tuesday afternoon when a fight broke out at the old Rite Aid location on Maclay and 3rd in Tallahassee.
Witnesses say the brawl was loud, chaotic, and involved the use of pepper spray, leaving nearby residents shaken and frustrated.
The incident was captured on video and quickly spread across social media, drawing sharp reactions from people across the community.
The original post, shared on the Channel 5 Ratchet News Facebook group, warned parents directly.
“Come get your kids. They over here fighting and using pepper spray in the old Rite Aid parking lot Maclay and 3rd,” the poster wrote.
The video appeared to show multiple young people involved in the altercation, and what alarmed many viewers most was the presence of a baby during the chaos.
Sofrito Sazon Goya did not mince words in the comments, writing,
“Take that baby in the house!!! Tf!!”
The reaction captured what many others felt watching the video, that an infant had absolutely no business being anywhere near that scene. Jessamy Rose went further, saying that both the girl holding the baby and the mother of the baby should face criminal charges for putting the child in that situation.
Community Divided Over Who Bears Responsibility
The video also sparked a heated debate about what bystanders should have done instead of recording. Tyesha Pretty Brown urged people to call the cops or try to stop the fight rather than filming it.
That comment drew a quick response from JT Taylor, who sarcastically replied that calling the police is “the first thing you would do.” The two went back and forth, with Tyesha holding firm that she would have stepped in and avoided getting sprayed herself. Khàyla Sereñity Brown backed Tyesha up, writing, “like fr fr always recording before doing something.”
The exchange highlights a familiar tension in these moments, where people on the outside debate the right call while those closer to the situation know that walking into active pepper spray is not a simple decision.
Blame for the fight itself fell heavily on the parents. Shirley Hicks put it bluntly, writing “The parents dont care.”
Risha Nicole responded with some context, noting that the parents of these teenagers were probably children themselves ten to fifteen years ago who were exposed to the same environment and learned from that example. Shirley pushed back on that reasoning, responding that as a parent, you only do what you allow.
Alex Dekona summed up the frustration many felt with a single line, writing “Great parenting. Just another day in the hood,” a comment that drew its own reactions from others in the thread.
Te’annia Shaleana took a lighter approach amid all the tension, simply commenting, “I love the soundtrack,” a reference to the Childish Gambino song Feels Like Summer that was playing in the background of the video.
The old Rite Aid lot at Maclay and 3rd has long been a gathering spot for young people in the area. With the building sitting vacant and the lot unsupervised, it continues to draw crowds, especially after school hours.
Tallahassee police had not issued a public statement about the incident at the time of this writing, though community members are hoping the video leads to accountability, particularly regarding the infant who was present during the brawl.
