Florida officials investigating deputy allegedly seen in video taking student to the ground
(CNN)A Florida school resource officer is on paid administrative leave after a video surfaced of him taking a high school student to the ground.
The
incident with a school resource officer took place Tuesday at Liberty
High School in Kissimmee, Florida, according to the Osceola School
District. A brief video posted Tuesday, which has been widely circulated
online, shows what appears to be an Osceola County Sheriff's school
resource officer in a confrontation with a student at the school.
School
Resource Officers are not school district employees, according to the
district, but rather they are sworn sheriff deputies employed with their
law enforcement agency. The Sheriff's Office has removed the resource
officer who was involved in the incident from the school until the
outcome of their investigation, District Public Information Officer Dana
Schafer said.
In
the video, the deputy is seen taking a student to the ground and
placing handcuffs on her. Another deputy is seen in the video as the
incident unfolds. During a press conference on Wednesday, Osceola County
Sheriff Marco Lopez said there are other videos apart from the partial
one "floating around," saying "that's why I'm not going to express an
opinion on what may or may not have happened."
While
it's not clear from the short video what led up to the incident, Lopez
said the disruption occurred at a school function where the student was
not complying with lawful commands and "went after" another student.
Lopez said the situation escalated from there.
"From
my understanding, the juvenile was fine," Lopez said, adding that the
student was medically attended to at the scene and released to her
mother, who picked her up. According to the sheriff, the deputy is also
"fine," though he sustained some injuries when he hit the ground.
Lopez
said his office is capable of handling the investigation, but he turned
it over to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) so no one
can accuse him of influence over the case.
"Certain
situations and certain circumstances call for complete, clear
transparency and utmost trust with our citizens," Lopez said.
FDLE confirmed it is investigating the use of force at Liberty High School.
"Each
case is unique including this case. In this case and all others, our
role is to determine the facts of what happened and a state attorney or
prosecutor determines if there are law violations," a statement from the
Department said.
The
deputy, whom Sheriff Lopez identified as Ethan Fournier, has been with
the Sheriff's Office for ten years and doesn't have a history of
misconduct, other than minor damage to property. The sheriff said
Fournier has been placed on paid administrative leave, pending the
outcome of the investigation.
CNN has attempted to reach Fournier and the Florida Police Benevolent Association for comment.
"The
district is fully cooperating with the Osceola County Sheriff's
Office's active investigation into the situation," Schafer, the public
information officer, said in a statement.
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