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Police officer suspended for tripping, shoving students celebrating state soccer title

Well, this is pretty much the worst attempt at crowd control in human history.

As Austin (Texas) Vandegrift High students celebrated their first state championship of any kind in the school's five-year history — a dramatic 1-0 girls' soccer win over Wylie East on Saturday — a Georgetown Police Department officer tripped and shoved spectators as they stormed the field.

Austin's KXAN-TV gathered YouTube footage taken by kids and parents of officer George Bermudez's highly questionable actions, and the department has already placed him on paid administrative leave.

The local TV station caught up with the girl who pulled off a nifty leap over the officer's violent tripping attempt, and naturally she took it in stride. "I would have been flat on my face," Vandegrift junior Audrey Ziari told KXAN-TV. "There were video cameras everywhere. It would've been so embarassing." As she said, her friend wasn't so lucky. He can be seen on the video limping off the field in pain from a kick to the shin.

While students were reportedly warned not to storm the field, Bermudez's effort to stop them was hardly appropriate. This wasn't exactly a situation where students were trampling over each other. According to local media reports, they were through celebrating and cleared from the field within five minutes.

Regardless, it's never a good look when the officer in charge of safety is creating a dangerous atmosphere.