BATON ROUGE — Deputies with the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office deployed pepper balls on crowds following LSU's football game to break up several fights that had broken out in the area on Saturday. 

According to the sheriff's office, EBRSO, along with numerous other law enforcement agencies, was requested by the LSU Police Department to remain on campus following Saturday's game to assist with a large gathering involving thousands of individuals. 

Officers from multiple agencies worked to address disturbances, maintain order and safely disperse the gathering crowds.

Deputies said that around 4:30 p.m., multiple fights broke out near the Pentagon and Greek theater area, including a fight involving several females with hundreds of spectators gathering around the individuals involved in the altercations, allegedly encouraging the violence. 

The surrounding crowds also allegedly began surrounding responding officers, preventing them from safely reaching the individuals involved in the fights and intervening in the altercations. This caused members of the EBRSO SWAT team who were assisting LSU Police to deploy pepper balls into the ground to help disperse the crowds, allowing officers to safely intervene and prevent further violence.

Following the deployment of the pepper balls into the area, crowds immediately dispersed, with the fights ending, and the immediate area was cleared within a minute, according to the sheriff's office. 

Deputies said that due to the open-air environment, the effects of the pepper balls dissipated quickly, with no injuries being reported in connection with the deployment. 

Law enforcement personnel from multiple agencies continued working together for several more hours to safely disperse the remaining crowds.