One student hospitalized, another charged after incident at Lexington High, officials say
One student was taken to the hospital and another was criminally charged after a recent physical altercation at Lexington High School, officials said.
The incident occurred during a gym class on April 25, Lexington High School Principal Dr. Ryan Pool said in a letter to parents that was shared with The State by Lexington 1 School District officials.
A 14-year-old student threw a 15-year-old classmate to the ground, according to an incident report from the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department.
The 15-year-old told a teacher that he didn’t have feeling in his left arm after being slammed to the ground, the incident report said.
The teacher then took the 15-year-old to the school nurse, Pool said. After contacting the boy’s parents, he was hospitalized for his injuries, according to Pool. His mother took him to the hospital, the incident report said.
Further information on the teenager’s condition was not available, and the school district can’t share a student’s medical information without parental consent.
The other student was immediately suspended and faces expulsion, Pool said.
He was taken into custody and transported to the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice detention center on Broad River Road, where he faced a charge of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, according to Pool.
There was no word if the 14-year-old was still being held at the detention center.
“No other students were involved in this incident or in danger,” Pool said.
The incident began as an accident, according to the student who was injured.
He told deputies that he bumped into the 14-year-old by mistake while they were running laps and apologized for the contact, according to the incident report.
The 14-year-old responded by “shoulder checking” the other student, the incident report said.
After running another lap, the situation continued to escalate as the 14-year-old said the older boy “swung on me,” and knocked his hat to the ground, according to the incident report. The 15-year-old admitted to hitting the other boy’s hat off, the incident report said.
Both boys told deputies that’s when the 14-year-old grabbed the older boy and slammed him to the ground, according to the incident report.
Pool said the school has remained in contact with the injured student’s family.
The principal also made a plea to stop gossip and rumor spreading about the altercation, and any other incident on social media.
“Unfortunately, we’ve seen people speculating on social media about what may have happened,” Pool said. “As always, I ask that you speak to your students about showing compassion on social media by stopping the spread of rumors when incidents like this occur.”
