A Morgan County elementary school student erupted into a violent rampage at the school on the morning of March 4, kicking one teacher in the throat and causing another to fall and dislocate his toe, according to materials obtained from the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office.
The student was later sent to the Youth Detention Center in Wilkes County and is being charged with aggravated battery on a school official, battery on a school official, simple battery on a school official, disorderly conduct, and criminal trespass.
According to MCES School Resource Officer Kim Wade, Registrar Erica Brown called her on the school’s radio and asked her to come to the school’s front office area to help deal with a belligerent student.
Wade said she heard a commotion coming from the counselor’s office at the end of the hallway and found the student seated on the floor between teachers Jessica Arp and Bruce Guest, who were trying to restrain him.
According to reports, the student was large and powerful for an 11-year-old and managed to get to his feet, punching a black metal filing cabinet as he yelled for administrators to leave him alone.
Wade said the student had already hurt Arp and Principal Linda Smith and destroyed several items in Smith’s office.
The student broke free from Wade and the teachers and then ran down the fourth-grade hallway and into the fifth-grade hallway, where the report says Guest and Wade subdued him.
The student continued to scuffle with teachers and knocked Guest to the ground, which caused him to dislocate his toe, according to the report.
Sgt. Travis Stubbs of the Madison Police Department then arrived, and he and Wade detained the student and placed him in handcuffs. The student continued to yell and demanded to speak to paraprofessional Jordan Carter.
Teachers said the incident began when the student left a classroom without permission. The student was eventually sent to the principal’s office.
Arp and Guest also came to the office.
When the student was advised that his mother was being contacted, he began breaking objects in the office.
According to the report, the student swung his arms at administrators, kicked Arp in the throat, and shoved Smith against a door.
Sgt. Newsome of the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office told Wade to contact the Department of Juvenile Justice to begin the intake process. A DJJ official confirmed that the student would be detained and sent to the YDC.
Newsome called for EMS to examine Guest, and Guest was transported to Morgan County Medical Center.
Newsome also asked EMS to examine the student because he had been involved in a physical confrontation, so that he could be cleared for transport.