GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — It's a classroom brawl that's made local, and national headlines.
SRO Captain Brian Hall said a Southern Guilford High school student was attacked by fellow classmates, students from another GCS school, and even a parent.
Days later, the expected charges still haven't been filed and Southern parents are questioning what's taking so long.
WFMY News 2's Jess Winters was initially told by authorities that charges would likely be filed Thursday.
"This is day three now, it's been three days since this incident occurred and have there been any repercussions for the behavior?"
Southern mom Misty Reagan questions why no arrests were made on the spot that Tuesday morning.
"A 37-year-old woman drove herself from across the county, trespassed and went into a classroom during class hours, and assaulted a child yet there's been zero charges pressed against her."
Captain Hall with the Guilford County Sheriff's Office said everyone involved in the assault was immediately found that day, which further puzzles Reagan in regard to the delay.
"It's real easy to grab a whole bunch of people at the time things are going on, and you might grab someone who was trying to break up the fight," Captain Hall explained. "So we slow these things down once the initial chaos is over and we want to make sure we’re methodical and make sure the right charges are put on the right people."
On Friday, a sheriff's office spokeswoman said charges are coming early next week on either Monday or Tuesday.
She said all eight who participated in the beating, have 'peacefully agreed' to turn themselves in and have their charges read to them which include assault, inciting a riot, and trespassing.
"We cannot downplay this incident," Reagan emphasized."Yes the child only had minor injuries, that’s great, but we cannot downplay this incident like it was a minor thing because it was not. The simple fact another student went down and opened the door and allowed seven other people in the building is a problem."
Captain Hall said the doors are locked from the outside, but the Southern students who planned the attack propped the door open for others to come in.
"You should never have something like this happen and not give it a good look after the fact to see what you could have done differently," Hall continued. "But in cases like that it's just hard to find what that would have been short of having a body manning every door."
Reagan thinks it could, and should have been stopped.
"School had already started, people were in classrooms, teachers were in classrooms getting ready to start exams at 9:45 in the morning so there should not have been anyone in the hallway," she said. "And if there were people wandering in the hallway someone should have said 'why are you in the hallway, what do you need?"
Captain Hall said COVID-19 protocols have made things harder.
"In a COVID-19 environment with masks, it's difficult to see, you know, it's not uncommon to see kids going out and coming back in from the parking lot," Hall said. "It used to be, you’d be standing in the hall and you could identify 'oh that kid doesn’t go here.' And you could stop and inquire. Not as easy in a COVID-19 environment."
Reagan said parents are also upset about the lack of communication, as all Southern parents were informed of the incident the day after it happened.
"There was no phone call for another 30-some hours to notify the parents," she said. "My anger comes out of the simple fact that there was zero communication at first. My son was right down the hall."
A Guilford County Schools spokesman said parents of students who were in the class where the fight happened were called that day, and the principal spoke with those students before they left.
"There was no lockdown. We're lucky the conversation wasn't different, someone didn't come in with a gun and shoot a bunch of people. It's time for a change."
The district believes safety protocols were followed after a preliminary investigation. The spokesman added that a lockdown wasn't necessary because the fight itself lasted about 45 seconds and was quickly broken up, the incident was isolated, and no weapons were involved.