RICHMOND, Va. – Two parents filed charges against a school security officer after they said he was filmed body slamming their 17-year-old son during an incident at Huguenot High School.
Richmond Public School officials confirmed that the Friday incident is under investigation.
Andre “AJ” Nious was not at school Monday. He’s been suspended from school for 10 days, after an incident that AJ and his mother said never should have happened.
The video starts with a group of students and several school officers in a thick crowd.
An officer can be seen in the video, picking up AJ and slamming him to the ground; a loud scream is heard right afterward.
“As I tried to get loose a little bit the security guard lift me up and slammed me on my head and you can hear it,” said AJ.
On Friday, in the fracas occurring around him, AJ said he was sucker punched. The event and video is under investigation, and it is unclear exactly why the school officer grabbed AJ.
The fight Friday wasn’t the first time AJ said he had a run-in with a group of guys that bully him.
In February, he and his mother said they went to school administrators for help with the group.
“I told him if you would have took care of this in February, when I told you, none of this stuff would have been happening at all,” said his mother.
AJ admits he’s been in trouble at school in the past.
“By me having a reputation in that school their mind frame is not going to change in being a positive person,” said AJ.
His parents were livid by how this new situation was handled, and have filed charges.
AJ’s mother says she was told the other student was suspended for three days.
“I don’t understand why my son got 10 days because he got struck and the security guard bear hug him, slam him face first and they didn’t take him to the doctor or call me how unprofessional is that?” his mother said.
“I started crying I was mad, I was upset…,” AJ’s mother said. “I was really hurt how they can just do these kids like that and think it’s okay.”
Richmond Public Schools released a statement about the investigation.
“The expectation is that all staff will follow appropriate procedures when responding to a student altercation. As always, the safety of our students is a top priority and all students are expected to demonstrate appropriate behavior as outlined in the Richmond Public Schools Student Code of Responsible Ethics (S.C.O.R.E.) Handbook.“
