Staff at the school whose students were involved in a no-holds-barred brawl say video of the encounter is sickening.
Up to 50 girls from Manurewa High School took part in the street fight, with some of them turning on police officers trying to break it up.
Police were forced to call for back-up and describe the behaviour as disgusting.
"The girls were just in there and they carried on fighting - they were actually pulling… there was a young girl that was actually pulled from the police officer as well while he was trying to help her. It's shocking behaviour," says Inspector Julia Lynch.
They say it's lucky the officers weren't injured.
"The behaviour is unacceptable, it's disgusting and it shouldn't happen."
Gurtej Singh heard shouting and screaming coming from outside his shop about 1pm yesterday.
"They were trying to kill each other," he says.
Neighbours told 3 News it's not the first time they've witnessed a fight like this in the area.
"It's very frightening you know, because the kids are getting bigger than you and you sort of think twice whether you can tell them something," says Benjamin Uili
The school's deputy principal Pete Jones says the video was horrific to watch.
"Having worked with young people and you see them get into that state, the red mist, it's very difficult to break them away... but horrible and makes you sick."
The footage has been viewed online by more than 1 million people around the world, and police say social media is part of the problem; it's being used to organise crimes.
"They're looking at stealing cars, ram-raids, aggravated robberies, and organised fighting as well," says Insp Lynch.
Police have warned there will be consequences for those involved - one girl has already been referred to Youth Aid and the school is also considering its own form of punishment, including suspension.
3 News
