A Florida community is demanding answers after a viral video showed an Osceola Sheriff’s Department deputy slamming a female student to the ground at a local high school.
The deputy’s use of force is being called out after the teen was reportedly knocked unconscious by the blow. The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that the deputy, who also happens to be the school’s resource officer, took a student to the ground during a “confrontation” at Liberty High School, according to WFTV.
According to the sheriff’s office, the incident took place between classes as the officer was attempting to stop the student in the video from fighting another student.
Osceola County investigators are now in the process of collecting video and witness statements to gain a better understanding of exactly what happened but it wasn’t immediately clear if the deputy has been placed on leave or if he’s been reassigned pending the outcome of the department’s investigation.
“Today the sheriff’s office received information from school officials at Liberty High School about a video posted on social media depicting one of our School Resource Officers in a confrontation with a student,” a tweet from the department read.
In their official statement, the department wrote, “We know that the School Resource Officer was in the process of trying to stop the student from fighting another student in the hallway when the deputy took her into custody. Once we receive more information related to the incident, we will provide an updated press release.”
You can watch the video below:
WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO
The @OsceolaSheriff is investigating what happened in this video. You see an SRO slam a student to the ground, appearing to knock her unconscious.
This happened today at Liberty HS in Kissimmee. The deputy was reportedly trying to break up a fight. pic.twitter.com/pEcyVtQ3p9
— Megan Cruz (@MeganWFTV) January 27, 2021
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