Texas school security officer speaks out after assault
Temple, TX September 18 2023 August 29th started as a normal workday for Marissa Ribeiro-Robbins, who is employed as a security guard at Lake Belton High School.
“I don’t think that it’s anything I, or we, didn’t see coming,” says Marissa.
The first bell of the day rang, and Marissa was standing downstairs in her zone of control.
“I looked up and saw a student come around the corner and he started assaulting another student,” she says.
She separated the two students and focused on handling the aggressor.
“I was facing him, and I had my hands kind of out like this. And I tell him like, hey, it’s over with. Let’s take a walk. Let’s go find your assistant principal. We can sit down somewhere and cool down,” Marissa says.
The next thing she remembers is waking up on the floor in a pool of her own blood.
When she could speak… Her first question: Was it an accident?
“The answer to that was absolutely not. And in the video, you can see it. There’s a very conscious moment where he looks at me and he sees he knows that I’m an adult. There was no mistake of who I was. And he paused. And then he hit me in the stomach. And then in the face,” Marissa says.
She says the student–whose name remains confidential–posted the assault on snapchat, mocking the security guard as she remained unconscious on the floor.
“I was by myself. On a floor. By myself,” the security guard says.
School nurses and the administration immediately came to her assistance, but Marissa says what she really needed was another security guard with her beforehand.
“I think six security officers for 2,400 students… that ratio doesn’t work. There’s not enough of us. And too many of them,” she says.
Marissa feels officers should be required to work in pairs. Now, she’s looking for a lawyer who will take the case.
Belton ISD has responded to the incident saying: “We cannot comment on specific student discipline issues. Rest assured Belton ISD takes a strong position on student assaults and will pursue the maximum consequences.”
