Richmond school security officer viciously attacked
RICHMOND, VA Jan 26 2018
Sources say a Richmond school security guard was injured after trying to break up a fight at a high school.
The fight was posted on Instagram, showing a George Wythe security guard being tackled to the ground.
Richmond Police showed up to the school on Monday. The very next day, officers said they are looking at criminal charges, all following a fight that was caught on camera.
As students were cheering, one of them was recording on a cell phone. Sources say the guard was trying to break up a fight between students when they turned on him.
“Scary,” said Kevin Starlings, director of Ignite Richmond.
His organization is helping teach area youth to make better choices. He also volunteers in the school district.
“Is this out of the ordinary?” NBC12 asked.
“Unfortunately, it’s not. It’s not that you would be surprised if it happened,” he said.
RPS says it will not comment on school fight videos anymore, because the district says it doesn’t want to promote violence.
“Most often, these cell phone videos serve as an unofficial, unauthenticated record that depicts a small snapshot of a chaotic situation that requires extensive investigation, and showing these videos on air not only encourages the behavior but also contributes to further circulation on social media,” said spokesperson Kenita Bowers.
NBC12 decided to show a distorted version of the video, because this isn’t your typical fight. This is an instance of a person hired to keep your students safe, seemingly falling victim at the hands of those he’s working to protect.
“It gives us an opportunity to see what’s going on inside our schools, and for us on the outside to be able to see what we can do to support what is going on inside,” Starlings said.
“So are you glad this video got out there?” NBC12 asked.
“Oh yeah, I’m definitely glad, because again, otherwise nobody knows what’s really going on,” he responded.
RPS says it cannot comment on student discipline or personnel matters.
WWBT
