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Shortly after 9 a.m. on Wednesday morning, Resource Officers assigned to the Governor Thomas Johnson High School were forced to display Taser-like devices on multiple occasions to help de-escalate a scary situation that played out inside the building.
Two groups of students got into a fight in a hallway in between periods, prompting the School Resource Officers to jump into action to break up the "large disturbance."
While one officer was walking a student out of the area, the other dealt with a second student who resisted his efforts to keep the parties separated.
When the student resisted, the officer again was forced to pull out - though not use - his Taser-like device to help subdue the situation.
Then things took another turn.
According to the Frederick County Sheriff's Office, a student began to walk away from the area while the officer and staff were cooling down the situation and went into a separate area with a school administrator, at which point the student pulled out a folding knife.
"While inside the office, the student brandished a folding knife, opened the knife, and held it in an aggressive manner at the (officer) while making verbal threats of violence against the (officer) and other students in the building," investigators said.
Again, the School Resource Officer displayed, but didn't deploy his Taser while ordering the student to drop the knife.
Investigators say that the student complied, but when officers attempted to arrest him, he physically resisted before ultimately being apprehended.
The 16-year-old was charged as an adult with:
- First- and second-degree assault;
- Possession of a dangerous weapon on school property;
- Resisting arrest;
- Threats of mass violence;
- Reckless endangerment;
- Disturbing school operation;
- Affray;
- Failure to obey a lawful order.
Due to his age, the sheriff's office did not release the student's name or other identifying information on Wednesday.
"This incident at Governor Thomas Johnson High School is not how we, or our partners at Frederick County Public Schools, wanted the school year to start,” Frederick County Sheriff's Lt. Brian Woodward said. “However, this one incident is a not a reflection of the entire Gov. Thomas Johnson High School community.”
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