- Tue Oct 27, 2015 4:17 pm
#64022
Student arrested; officer on administrative duties
At least two videos shot by students show the dramatic scene Monday inside a math classroom at Spring Valley High School. None show much of what happened before it, however.
According to Lt. Curtis Wilson, a spokesman for the Richland County Sheriff's Department, the instructor had asked the student "to leave the class several times."
"The assistant principal was there as well," Wilson said. "Then the officer was called to actually have the student removed from that location. The student refused."
The student -- who was released to her parents after the incident -- faces a charge of disturbing schools, according to Wilson. Another female student, Niya Kenny, faces the same charge after allegedly standing up for the other teenager, her mother, Doris Ballard, told CNN.
Wilson said that as of Monday there were no reports of any injuries. But the teenage student pulled from the desk told Kenny she had a fractured arm and cuts on her face, said Ballard, who heard the story from her daughter.
The FBI and area U.S. Attorney's Office have opened a civil rights investigation to determine whether federal laws were violated during the student's arrest, a Justice Department spokesperson said.
Sheriff Leon Lott said the FBI will be the lead agency in a criminal investigation.
"We do not want any issues with the community or those involved having questions concerning conflicts of interest in this investigation," he said.
The officer involved is white; the student is black.
"We're deeply concerned, particularly with the assault of the student," said Lonnie Randolph Jr., president of the South Carolina NAACP. "It was not the right way to respond."
For now, Fields is on administrative duties and won't return to his customary assignment at Spring Valley High. His boss, Lott, is determined to get to the bottom of what happened.
"He was disturbed by what he saw, (and) he has questions just like everybody else does," Wilson said of Lott. "And he wants answers to those questions."
At least two videos shot by students show the dramatic scene Monday inside a math classroom at Spring Valley High School. None show much of what happened before it, however.
According to Lt. Curtis Wilson, a spokesman for the Richland County Sheriff's Department, the instructor had asked the student "to leave the class several times."
"The assistant principal was there as well," Wilson said. "Then the officer was called to actually have the student removed from that location. The student refused."
The student -- who was released to her parents after the incident -- faces a charge of disturbing schools, according to Wilson. Another female student, Niya Kenny, faces the same charge after allegedly standing up for the other teenager, her mother, Doris Ballard, told CNN.
Wilson said that as of Monday there were no reports of any injuries. But the teenage student pulled from the desk told Kenny she had a fractured arm and cuts on her face, said Ballard, who heard the story from her daughter.
The FBI and area U.S. Attorney's Office have opened a civil rights investigation to determine whether federal laws were violated during the student's arrest, a Justice Department spokesperson said.
Sheriff Leon Lott said the FBI will be the lead agency in a criminal investigation.
"We do not want any issues with the community or those involved having questions concerning conflicts of interest in this investigation," he said.
The officer involved is white; the student is black.
"We're deeply concerned, particularly with the assault of the student," said Lonnie Randolph Jr., president of the South Carolina NAACP. "It was not the right way to respond."
For now, Fields is on administrative duties and won't return to his customary assignment at Spring Valley High. His boss, Lott, is determined to get to the bottom of what happened.
"He was disturbed by what he saw, (and) he has questions just like everybody else does," Wilson said of Lott. "And he wants answers to those questions."
