DECATUR, Ga. — A school resource officer in DeKalb County has been fired after he allegedly slammed a student against the wall in September.
The 15-year-old Towers High School freshman and his mother spoke exclusively to Channel 2′s Michael Seiden.
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An internal affairs investigation with the DeKalb County School District determined that School Resource Officer Almond Bullard used excessive force while breaking up a fight involving Jaron Collins and several other students. Bullard was terminated as a result of that investigation.
While the Decatur student admitted to being caught up in the moment and exchanging words with the officer before the alleged incident, there is no excuse for what happened.
“You had no right! While cuffed, you had no right!” his mother Michelle Collins exclaimed.
Jaron Collins says he is still feeling the effects of the incident, continued headaches and pain in one of his legs.
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A few weeks after the incident, Michelle Collins was asked to come to the District headquarters to review body camera footage.
“My sons hands are behind his back. That man took my son by his shirt and slung him into a brick wall so hard that it took both of them to the floor,” she described to Seiden. “It took everything in me to not walk out of that office and say, ‘Give me that man’s address.’”
Channel 2 Action News requested a copy of that body camera footage, but the request was denied citing the ongoing investigation.
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A District spokesperson did release a statement that reads,
The safety and well-being of our students remain a top priority. A former DCSD Police Officer was placed on administrative leave and later dismissed following an internal affairs investigation that determined the former employee used excessive force during an incident involving a student. The DCSD Police Department is in the process of filing criminal charges against the former employee.
Michelle Collins says her son is finishing up an out of school suspension, but will soon transfer to another school in the District, alongside his sister.
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