Shocking video captures moment student, 15, BODYSLAMS cop who was trying to break-up fight
ST CLOUD, FLORIDA: A vicious altercation took place at Florida's St Cloud High School on Thursday, October 6, when a 15-year-old boy punched a school resource officer. The horrific incident occurred when officer Russell Ball was attempting to stop a dispute between two other children. The boy has been detained for body-slamming the law enforcement officer to the ground.
The unidentified 15-year-old, who was not participating in the altercation, allegedly approached the officer and grabbed him by the neck while Ball was attempting to break up a fight between two other pupils, both 14 years old. A video shows the 15-year-old encircling the school resource officer and throwing him to the ground while onlookers yelled in shock. The teenager then repeatedly beat officer Ball before a school administration, another resource officer, and other students stepped in.
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The officers kept the violent student under control until the police reached the scene, according to FOX 13. Neither Ball nor the teenager was hurt during the altercation. As officers try to release body camera evidence of the event, he is currently being detained at the Juvenile Assessment Center in Orlando, as reported by FOX News. Other charges, such as an attack on an officer and violently resisting arrest are pending against the other two students who took part in the altercation.
St Cloud Police Chief Douglas Goerke said in a public statement that the footage was "extremely disturbing" and that the attack was unprovoked. “To be clear, the incident Officer Ball was dealing with did not involve the student that was arrested,” he said. “Officer Ball was there to prevent two other students from harming each other. What occurred to Officer Ball was despicable and should never have happened,” he added. “We will never tolerate behavior that targets our officers and will hold those accountable at the highest levels.” Goerke also said that Ball allegedly tried to subdue the student "with the least amount of force possible".
Ball has been a police officer with the St Cloud Police Department for 18 years, according to his biography on the St Cloud High School website. Prior to that, he spent years serving in the United States Air Force. His profile reads: “Officer Ball takes his job of campus safety and security very seriously and wants to make sure students are safe and able to learn in an environment without worrying about anything happening to them on his watch. He feels it is his duty to ensure the parents that their children are safe, and they should have nothing to worry about when they send their kids to school.”