WillCo Student Tasered After Public Fisticuffs with School Officials

Westwood High student Sherman Merritt's day went from bad to ludicrously bad after an argument with his teacher escalated into a full on fracas that ended with him getting Tasered by a school official.

Merritt, 18, was sent to the principal's office in the morning after arguing with his teacher. That discussion, in turn, ended with the two arguing, after which Merritt stormed off campus. The school's "resource officer," more or less a school narc, and the principal both followed in pursuit, catching up with him at a nearby intersection. There Merritt managed to elbow the resource officer in the face, and was in mid-charge towards the principal when the officer zapped him.

As Williamson County Detective John Foster told the Statesman, what would otherwise have been a simple misdemeanor (for interrupting a classroom) ended up as a third-degree felony.

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By Allen Y Chen in News on February 17, 2009 3:54 PM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

kenneth1

I too am confused by the apparent unwillingness of these school officials to allow an adult (18 yrs old) to leave school grounds. Was he told by the officer to remain, but left anyway?

Of course, this is the same county that sentences people to 40 years in prison for cocaine possession.

Grape Ape

It is WillCo after all; they have different laws and possibly a different Constitution than the rest of us. Rights of those they don't approve of are usually ignored. Not only do they have backwards views on minorities and homosexuality, they apparently also have a "you're not an adult until we say you are" clause in there somewhere.

LKM

That's the first thing I thought--why did they follow him off campus??

Circumlocution

Seems to me, an 18 year-old student (an adult) should be able to leave campus without being pursued and assaulted (off campus) by school officials. Whether or not that student can return to campus should have been the issue.

bigfatdrunk

Dangit, sorry for the double post.

bigfatdrunk

Why in the eff would they follow this kid OFF CAMPUS and taser him? Are they within their jurisdiction to do this? This is a huge can of worms Westwood HS just opened.

bigfatdrunk

Why in the eff would they follow this kid OFF CAMPUS and taser him? Are they within their jurisdiction to do this? This is a huge can of worms Westwood HS just opened.