A student sent videos to Spectrum News 1 showing an incident at a Wake County high school that happened Tuesday.
The first video shows a Cary police officer scuffling with a student against a wall and then in some bushes outside Panther Creek High School. The second video appears to show the police officer handcuffing the student while a staff member kneels on the student.
"During lunch on December 7, staff responded to an altercation between two students. The incident was witnessed by several students, recorded by students on video and captured by the school’s security cameras. The footage appears to depict a staff member restraining a student by placing a knee on the student’s neck," Panther Creek Principal Greg Decker said in an email to parents.
The employee in the video has been suspended while the school system and Cary police investigate the incident, Decker said.
"The video appears to depict actions that are deeply concerning. We hold a responsibility to ensure that all students feel safe and respected in our school communities," Decker said.
Video from a student at Panther Creek High School shows a staff member kneeling on a student during an altercation with a Cary police officer. Video from @PatThomasNews for @SpecNews1RDU pic.twitter.com/nMXs3HeLIK
— charles duncan (@duncanreporting) December 10, 2021
Cary police said two students were arguing when an officer stepped in to break it up."During the encounter, one of the students became physical with the officer and had to be restrained," the department said in a news release.
“We’re asking the public not to rush to judgment before we are able to conclude our investigation,” Cary's interim Police Chief Terry Sult said. “We know there is video that has people concerned, especially because it involves a student, so it’s even more important that we take our time and be as thorough and sensitive to the events surrounding the incident as possible.”
Wake County schools suspended an assistant principal after the incident, but would not confirm if that is the same staff member seen in the video.
Many police departments have banned officers from kneeling on suspects' necks since the death of George Floyd, whose dying words "I can't breathe" became a rallying cry for police reform and the Black Lives Matter movement. Former Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted in Floyd's death.