NC deputy injured breaking up fight between students: Live update from Lenoir County Sheriff's Office
You need to be right here sir
It's my seat
My coffee cup is not a picture of it probably
has NC state on it I'm sure
Right
So were you um were you are you going to
get up here Michelle Ok
We got everybody ready
Yeah yeah you guys will be tight
I'm gonna get out of the frame as soon as
I
Ok
I'm Brian Hanks
I'm the public information officer for Lenoir County
Uh we appreciate the media coming out here today for
this press conference
Uh I have with me uh Sheriff Jackie Rogers and
Deputy Christopher Little
They're gonna be uh talking about the incident that happened
on Wednesday just uh I can't even believe it's just
a little bit over 48 hours ago
So uh first I'm gonna introduce uh sheriff Jackie Rogers
Thank you for coming
I'm Jackie Rogers the sheriff of Lenoir County
Um on Wednesday about 8:30 a.m. we had an incident
of the uh Lenoir County Learning Academy where um they
had a fight on a school bus
Um deputy little tried to intervene
Um he was assaulted and sustained about 18 staples to
the back of his head
Um Deputy Little has been with the sheriff's office for
about two years
Um he's a great deputy
He just recently got promoted
Um he's in charge of our recruiting and our governors
I would set the program
Um I'll take any questions if you have any questions
at this point for me and then I'll introduce Deputy
Little
Can you talk about the charges that the students received
and how you got to them Um the charges were
we consulted with the District Attorney's office and um they
they were both charged with assault inflicting serious injury on
a law enforcement officer um resisting arrest and damage to
county property
Um and that's basically how we got there
Can you describe some of that damage Um it was
damage to the uniform
Um he had they had to cut the uniform and
stuff off
That was the only damage to the county property and
this has been a teacher bus driver or another student
trying to break up the fire
Are you guys implementing new policies and incidents like this
The learning academy is um they hired deputies off duty
they're off duty
They don't have a a full time SRO they have
off duty deputies that work different days
Um the deputy was on the scene at the time
he was there
The Children are not allowed to get off the bus
until the deputy is standing outside the bus
So the deputy was outside the bus the fight occurred
Deputy little ran on the bus and tried to intervene
and that's when he was assaulted
Um what the age is it These weapons uh no
weapons were involved
The ages of the juveniles were 12 and 16
And so it was just like fists hands
Yes ma'am
And last question are you going to do anything different
Going forward Um we're looking at trying to uh do
some different stuff on the school buses and things like
that but basically it was a um it was a
single incident
We hadn't had a problem like that this year or
in the past because early training gets involved with you
know to do this for the schools
Um we have not spoken with the school systems about
that
Um but we will be in conversation about things like
that
I see a Facebook comment about um this specific school
has kids that struggle with special needs or mentally and
emotionally for these students in any special program
Um I'll let Deputy Little
Deputy Little has got a um he he works there
quite a bit and I'll let him discuss that
I think he wants to discuss things like that
Um this is Deputy Chris Little
Um hi I'm uh Chris Low
I'm a deputy with the Lenoir County Sheriff's office
Um I don't know how you guys would like me
to begin on this
Do you wanna start by maybe just walking through the
that day if that's ok with you
Oh that's completely fine man
Um So at about 830 that morning while we were
getting kids off of our first school bus at the
uh learning academy
Um when I observed a fight starting on the bus
uh I answered the bus uh yelled at them to
uh break it up try to break up the fight
at which time neither of the uh students while I
listen due to the uh punches and kicks being thrown
Uh at that point I went ahead and grabbed both
of the kids and tried to put them into a
seat
Um One of the uh juveniles was able to kick
off the side of the bus and threw us all
back onto the uh other side um where I uh
received a laceration to the back of my head
Um The fight still continued
We had a uh another student or one of the
original two students jump on top um and begin punching
both the uh other juvenile involved in myself
Uh I got up was able to get between them
Uh I believe I had to break up this fight
about 34 times uh before it was all set and
done
Um That's essentially the uh fight itself
It was a pretty um I would say probably 34
minutes we had on scene
And so you said you guys were kind of going
from left to right from one side of the bus
to the other
So did you hit your head on like the back
of the bus or was it like where you hit
So when I had the uh student trying to uh
keep them in the seat the student was able to
use their legs and kick off the one side of
the bus
It sent all three of us flying to the other
side
Um I was on bottom because I had uh hold
on both of the students and my head went into
the window uh the meadow window frame
Um And that's how the uh injury was a man
According to the press release we saw that neither of
the Children sustained injuries
How do you feel knowing that you did your job
and were able to break up the fight without causing
them injury So working at the Learning Academy um we
have a lot of great students at the Learning Academy
We have a lot of students that are in there
for different reasons but we always want to try to
break up uh altercations and deal with issues
Uh a as kindly as we can
Um No punches were thrown by myself or any other
deputies
Uh We try to use uh restraining tactics and to
break up these fights because at the end of the
day we have a lot of students in there for
um different reasons
Um I'm happy that I was the only one to
sustain injuries and that none of my students sustained any
injuries during this incident
Um And uh still planning on working I learned academy
a lot
I I love my kids over there and will continue
to work there
Yeah I was just uh
I got and I want to come back to
work
So while I was in the hospital uh I was
getting texts from teachers at the school and uh I
I have a really good relationship with a lot of
our kids there and the school was uh very upset
So I uh went back to the uh school and
um I ended up spending about 30 minutes there and
the reception there is just great
Well it's like any of our other uh public schools
in the North County um got torn by students immediately
Staff it's all there
Uh and I think that goes to show the impact
that having the Sheriff's office at the Learning Academy uh
does I mean it's it's an incredible opportunity to reach
out and um get to know our youth and b
and to uh build really lasting bonds and uh establish
trust between law enforcement and this generation
Coming up
When I talked to Sheriff Rogers yesterday he said that
the kids warmed you and were hugging on you
Can you tell me a little bit about what the
kids were saying to you Um so a lot of
them want to know exactly who did it
Um but a lot of them were happy to see
me up on my feet
Um back at the school they were asking when I
was going to be coming back to the school
Um the uh the staff and the kids there are
uh amazing
They worked extremely extremely hard to help these kids who
are often in more difficult situations than in than a
lot of our other students in the school system
So I have a lot of respect for the staff
that works there was happy with
And I
know I know I I let the she's uh uh
of that I need to go to the hospital
And uh so that would be a question I believe
for Sheriff Rogers when he comes back up there in
the what's something that you would like to see Uh
so I'm going to leave that up to the uh
criminal justice system
Um at this point um there does have to be
accountability for actions
That is something that does have to be taught through
this generation
Um while we try to go in and we try
to uh while we try to so these issues um
as low impact as possible when they're not listening and
it does get to this point
Um there does have to be some repercussions for actions
Otherwise this behavior is going to continue into adulthood and
continue to be an issue
Um The entire idea of learning academy is to help
these students one graduate but two emotionally grow and be
able to uh move forward in life just gonna go
back one step while it was happening to you
You were you know in it
How did you feel Did you were you scared And
how do you feel now going back into the school
Uh So I can't really say that I was uh
scared during the incident
Um I kept moving through uh and um was able
to get it uh was able to get it uh
separated
Um I was glad when other deputy stepped on the
bus
Um but uh going back to the school uh I'm
excited to go back to school
Um Like I said I this is something that we
volunteer for on a part time basis at the uh
learning academy
Um But they have several like myself who come on
a pretty consistent basis uh who are able to form
these relationships with the kids and form kind of these
mentorship roles
And I'm excited to get back into the learning academy
And how long have you been with the school And
um how long have you I believe I've been working
there about a year and a half all through last
year and um through this year I believe we're at
right about the halfway point and real quick
Um Can you let us know I'd like that you
have a compassion for them
You mentioned some of them have challenges
What are some of those difficulties and challenges you're speaking
of So we have some emotional uh some emotional disabilities
that are uh in the school
We have uh some ec kids
It's really a variety of different issues within the school
We also have a lot of kids who have been
involved in fights and um brought weapons to school and
this is the school that we go to uh give
them a second chance um to try to have more
of that mentorship role and a little bit closer supervision
Uh yes there is
Um once I go through the program the school really
has a better answer on how that process works
But yes
Ok
Think you got any more questions
Uh sheriff did you want to address the uh the
uh the 16 year old is still in custody Uh
he went to a secure custody uh facility
Uh the 12 year old was released to the mother
that same day and you guys have spoken to both
of the parents
Yes
Well we we have not the deputies that charge them
has spoken to the parents and they're aware of everything
I heard
Um we will this up to the judicial system
Um they'll go they'll have a court date and they'll
go to court and that's that's their decision to make
Ok thank you guys so very much
Thank you
Can we also get a shot at the back of
your head I don't know how to ask that
That's a great that's a great question
Do you mind Do you mind it Yes
No this is worse
Looking at the cameras
It's much prettier
Are
we good Thank you guys so much
Thank you
You're PJ
Thank you
Yes sir
Thank you
Thank you so much
Great job
Great job
Yes that was great