Warning: The video is disturbing.
Video shows a school resource officer (SRO) body slamming a young child twice in Vance County, North Carolina. Now he’s being investigated by the State Bureau of Investigation, the local sheriff said.
“We went over and when we first saw the video, we were stunned, we were shocked,” Sheriff Curtis Brame told CBS 17. “We all are parents and grandparents that have children at that same age, so it brought some great concern to us.”
Footage depicts the SRO accompanying a student down a hallway at Vance County Middle School. Then, with no apparent justification, the officer swung toward the student, lifts him into the air, and slams him into the floor. The officer then picked him up again, and dropped him again. He then dragged him down the hallway.
No charges have been filed. It’s unclear what motivated the attack.
The SRO has not been identified. Brame said the man had been with the sheriff’s office for two years, and had not had problems up to this point. Vance County District Attorney Mike Waters said his office is investigating the matter.
“We have to look at how it was handled in the moments afterwards, and I’m comfortable with how that is being done,” he said.
The school district said Friday that they are cooperating with the investigation, but didn’t answer other questions from the outlet.
“The safety of our students has been and continues to be of the utmost importance to our district,” they said in a statement. “Should you have further questions, please direct those to the Vance County Sheriff’s Office.”
Brame told WRAL that the child sustained a bump to the head, but was not hospitalized.
[Screengrab via CBS]
