WALKERTOWN, N.C. — A video of an SRO breaking up a high school fight is circulating online and raising concerns for a Triad community.
The videos show two Walkertown High School students getting ready to fight when a school resource officer intervenes.
Two videos sent to WFMY show the SRO throwing a student into a wall. The SRO then grabs the student by her hair before pulling her hands back.
The next video shows the SRO linking arms with the student who appears to be in handcuffs.
Michelle Boone is a parent and educator. She says the amount of force the SRO used to separate the two girls was unwarranted.
"She's a female up against a male trained officer and the force that he punches her with is very disturbing like he did more damage than the two children could have done to themselves," said Boone.
Another video on social media shows how the incident started.
While we don't have permission to show it, it shows two high school girls standing in front of each other about to fight.
Former SRO officer Marc Ridgill says while he doesn't know all of the details, the SRO will be held accountable by appropriate parties.
"That video is not flattering, but there are folks at that agency that will investigate, they will do a follow up on it and they'll decide a proper course of action," explained Ridgill.
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School officials released the following statement about the incident:
Our priority is to ensure that our student involved is physically and mentally okay. We are working to make sure that she receives any support necessary. I trust the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office will investigate this matter and handle it appropriately. Our intent in having SROs in our schools is to keep students safe and build trusting relationships, but this type of interaction with an officer does not build trust and certainly doesn’t help our students to view these officers as allies. I expect all adults in our schools to ensure the well-being of our students. Students fighting will never be justified on our campuses, and we will continue to focus on preventative practices while also addressing appropriate consequences for student misbehavior.”
Forsyth County sheriff's deputies say they are in the process of reviewing the video.
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