HENDERSON, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina sheriff said Monday that he has fired a school resource officer seen on surveillance video violently slamming a middle school student to the ground twice and then dragging the boy off camera.
Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame issued a statement Monday that the deputy is no longer employed by his office. The deputy hasn’t been named.
“We will ask that everyone remain patient while this investigation is ongoing,” Brame said in the news release.
The officer had been on paid administrative leave since the video was reported last week.
It wasn’t clear if the deputy would face charges. The district attorney didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The State Bureau of Investigation is probing what happened at Vance County Middle School, about 45 miles (70 kilometers) north of Raleigh.
Authorities haven’t named the student but the sheriff said the child is under the age of 12.
Anthony Jackson, Vance County Schools superintendent, said at a news conference Monday that the school was reviewing its agreement with the sheriff’s office and would likely make changes.
“Most of all we want to express our apologies to our community that this has occurred. No student should every experience this in any way,” he said.
The Southern Poverty Law Center issued a statement decrying what happened as “unconscionable” and saying it’s part of a larger problem.
“Law enforcement officers are frequently brought in to schools to handle routine school discipline and this far too often is the result—an outrageously excessive use of force on young children. This must end. Our children deserve better,” said Karen Baynes-Dunning, interim CEO and president of SPLC.
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An earlier version of this report had an incorrect name for Vance County Middle School.