The parents of a boy injured in a hanging incident at an elementary school school in Charles County, Maryland, said they don’t think they’re getting the full story.
“He has marks under his eyes,” the mother of a 7-year-old boy injured in an incident at school told WUSA9.
She said she was shocked when she saw her son after the second grader was injured in the bathroom at C. Paul Barnhart Elementary School in Waldorf.
“He said that the little boy told him, ‘I’m going to show you how I did people back in the day,'” the mother told WUSA9.
“He still has bruises on his neck from being choked,” the boy’s father said.
Carrie Burke, the principal at the school, issued a statement saying the incident was first reported to 911 as a possible suicide attempt, but she said that’s not true.
“This was then posted on social media by a community member, causing a bit of community concern,” Burke wrote.
“Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) quickly shared an update with you as well as the Barnhart staff to dispel any inaccurate information beginning to circulate. I apologize for the delay in that update, but our administrative team was addressing the needs of our students. The incident was also reported to our school resource officer (SRO),” she said.
The school said that two students were reportedly “horseplaying” in a school bathroom when one of the student’s jacket got caught on a stall door hook.
“The student was not able to free themselves and the other student involved was also not able to help them. This student left the bathroom to seek help from staff and reported the incident to administrators,” she wrote.
Then staff called 911 for “additional precautionary medical support,” Burke said.
The boy’s parents said they think there’s more to the story.
“Doesn’t make sense to me,” the boy’s mom said. “If you’re horseplaying, how do you get caught on the hook? Like, we need answers. I want answers, and we won’t stop until we get them.”
The boy was in second grade at the school and his mom said he would not be returning to the school.
“I feel like it’s bullying, because it’s no telling how many other kids this has happened to and they want the school district to step-up,” the boy’s mom said.
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