Man dies after fans brawl at Vermont middle-school basketball game

A man died after a brawl broke out among spectators at a middle school basketball game in northern Vermont, local police have said.

Vermont state troopers were called to the Alburgh Community Education Center just before 7pm on Tuesday after a report of a large fight involving spectators during a seventh- and eighth-grade boys basketball game between Alburgh and St Albans.

The fight ended before troopers arrived, and many of the participants had left. Russell Giroux, of Alburgh, 60, sought medical attention, police said. He was taken by ambulance to the Northwestern Medical Center in St Albans, where he was pronounced dead.

Jay Nichols, the executive director of the Vermont Principals’ Association, said in a statement that the group, which oversees school sports in the state, had no information about the event beyond what the authorities provided.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/feb/01/man-dies-after-fans-brawl-at-vermont-middle-school-basketball-game

Middle school sports is important enough for someone to die over?