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If you’re not from the Atlanta metro area the name Rockdale County, Georgia, may not be familiar. But it’s the location of the city of Conyers and the home of Rockdale County High School. This suburb about 45 minutes from downtown Atlanta has been a nightmare of violent behavior from students and assaults on school resource officers. It has been reported that a female resource officer was injured breaking up a fight. Making the situation worse was that she was also robbed during the altercation.
There have been seven fights so far this school year, including three in one day. Now a new video has emerged of one fight that took place on Sept. 11, 2015, that has stirred controversy. Two teens identified as Tyra Davenport, 17, and Victor Ramirez,18, were fighting on the campus as a crowd gathered to watch and record. A Conyers police officer then runs to the scene and fires his Taser, downing both students. Some have criticized the officer’s actions, including Shelly Norman the mother of Tyra Davenport.
“They shot my child down like a dog, it’s just disturbing for any parent to see they [sic] child just be hit like that … They could have at least yelled — ‘you two stop,’ ” Norman stated.
Kim Lucas, spokesperson for the Conyers Police Department recently stated, “It was determined, that was the correct course of action, so there was no disciplinary action to take place. We don’t want our officers to get injured, so they have to assess very quickly whatever a situation is given a circumstance.”
However, the officer who responded to the event was not the assigned school resource officer. According to the Rockdale County School District, a Taser shouldn’t be used on school property unless it’s to save a life or prevent serious injury. The report filed by the officer stated he used his Taser “because there were no administrators or backup nearby.” The two teens involved in the fight were charged as adults for disorderly conduct.
