STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. — A middle school was on lockdown for about 30 minutes Wednesday after an eighth-grader allegedly stabbed another student with a pair of scissors.
The incident happened at Stephenson Middle School.
Channel 2's Tyisha Fernandes learned the suspect's mother, Donadeen Russell-Fongchoy, was in tears when she got the call that her daughter was in custody. She was upset because officials would not allow to see or speak to her daughter.
Police said while they were sorting out the situation, they couldn't let the mother have access to her daughter who is accused of a very serious assault.
“She’s had fights before you know, when she said she’s defending herself, but not to this degree where she’s literally stabbed somebody like this,” Russell-Fongchoy said.
Russell-Fongchoy admits her 13-year-old daughter with autism has had issues at school before and that’s why she said she’s been very active in helping school officials come up with her daughter’s individual education plan or IEP.
She was confused as to how her daughter even had access.
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“My child has autism, she has ADHD, she has an IEP. The IEP states she’s not supposed to have access to any knife, scissors, anything, no cutting instrument, so who was supervising my child in the building?” Russell-Fongchoy asked.
School officials said they cannot comment on why the student had access because the incident is still under investigation. But they said the injured student is being treated for her injuries.
“I got an email saying there was a stabbing,” parent Orrin Hudson said.
Hudson has a seventh-grader at Stephenson Middle School.
“I was shocked, but at the same time, you never know what children are going through,” Hudson said.
Hudson also runs a community center across the street from the school that focuses on teaching kids how to handle things in a nonviolent way
He understands why school officials wouldn't let the suspect's mom speak to her after the incident.
“The parent could be upset and do something she may later regret,” Hudson said.
A parent showed Channel 2 Action News an email sent from the school alerting parents of an assault. Other parents said they were not notified.
Cox Media Group
