DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. — Editor's note: The above video contains images that may be disturbing to some viewers. This video captured the incident in question at Middletown High School.
A Middletown Area School District Resource Officer used a taser on a student on Wednesday during an incident in the Middletown High School Cafeteria.
According to a statement from the school district, around 11:00 a.m. on Jan. 26, a fight broke out during a lunch period.
The district says that in an attempt to get the situation under control, the high school's assistant principal and the District School Resource Officer intervened due to the "escalating nature of the situation."
The district statement noted that during the three minute confrontation, the School Resource Officer used his taser on one of the students involved in the fight.
Several videos of the incident began circulating on social media shortly after the incident on Wednesday.
The school district said in their statement that "these images don't represent the universal values that the Middletown Area School District strive to instill in our student body. They also don't reflect on the staff who are employed to support our students on a daily basis."
We spoke to a young woman whose siblings attend Middletown High School. She didn’t want to appear on-camera but tells us she was caught by surprise when she saw the video.
“I was just so shocked to see a grown man who is trained to detain and to resort to other solutions to take down and tase a young boy who is only 14 years old.”
Her family also knows the boy who was tased.
“He's actually a very respectful child so for something like this to happen, he obviously must have been provoked," she said.
The Lower Swatara Chief of Police declined to comment on the case, saying it has been referred to the Dauphin County District Attorney’s office.
A statement from District Attorney Fran Chardo says in part, "In cases involving the use of force by a municipal police department the chief of that department routinely requests that our detectives conduct the inquiry. That is what occurred here."
There was no word on what discipline either students or staff would face for the incident.
You can read the full statement from the Middletown School District below:
Dear Middletown Parents and Guardians,
I would like to take this opportunity to provide some factual pieces of information to the events that transpired on Wednesday, January 26th at the Middletown Area High School. At approximately 11:01 a.m., there was a fight that broke out during a scheduled lunch period. In an effort to get the situation under control, the high school assistant principal and the District School Resource Officer (SRO) needed to intervene due to the escalating nature of the situation. Both of these individuals regularly monitor all lunch periods. During the 3-minute confrontation, the SRO deployed his taser on one of the students involved in the fight. Several videos and images of what happened yesterday are circulating on social media. These images do not represent the universal values that the Middletown Area School District strives to instill in our student body. They also don’t reflect on the staff who are employed to support our students on a daily basis.
The school district also understands that hearing about, witnessing, or actually being tased in school is very concerning. The school environment should be one of excitement and joy where students are provided a proper place to learn, grow, and prosper. The Middletown Area School District is committed to making sure we move forward from this event. We will continue to strive to make sure our schools are places where students don’t have to worry about random acts of violence by evaluating our current safety protocols and procedures.
Dr. Chelton Hunter
Superintendent of Schools