According to Fox 5 New York, the video below was recorded by a student at Kimbrough Middle School in Mesquite, Texas.

The officer pictured, pepper sprays a baby squirrel on the school campus while students look on.

Fox 5 reports:

Mesquite Police Department has defended the officer’s actions.

Sgt. Wes Talley said the officer stood between a group of students and the animal because he thought it may have been rabid.

Talley said after several unsuccessful attempts to scare the squirrel away, the officer used his pepper spray on it to protect the welfare of the students.