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FHS school official assaulted during fight

Forest- A student at Forest High School appeared before a municipal judge Monday on a felony charge accused of striking an assistant principal during a brawl in the school’s cafeteria last Friday.

   Municipal Judge Jerry Bustin set a $25,000 bond for John Earl McGee Jr,of 212 Joe St,Forest, who was charged as an adult with assault on a teacher or school official. Bustin advised McGee of his constitutional rights and explained that his case would be heard in separate court at a later date.

  McGee, who turns 18 today,stood before Judge Bustin wearing handcuffs and an orange jail issue jumpsuit and accompanied by his parents. Bustin asid that if convicted,McGee could be fined $1,000 and sentenced up to five years at the same penitentiary.

  ” This is a very serious charge,” Bustin said ,adding that school officals often put themselves in harm’s way to protect their students. ” That is why the punishment is so severe.”

  At least two other juveniles, whose name were not released due to their ages,were directly involved,but law enforcement officials said as many as nine of 10 students were possibly involved indirectly.

  Forest High School Assistant Principal Allan Arkison is the alleged target of McGee’s assault when Atkison attempted to break up a fight between two other students at the school of Friday in the school’s cafeteria.

  Atkison read a statement to the judge as his testimony in the initial appearance for McGee, detailing that he was on duty in the cafeteria at 12:45 p.m. when he witnessed two other students engaged in a fight and immediately responded to intercede.

  Atkison said as he reacted to the fight, McGee became involved and he tried to contain McGee in the process when McGee turned on him and struck him three times causing multiple bruising. There were no other reported injuries in the incident and law enforcement officals said an ambulance was not called.

  Atkison said he attempted to subdue McGee for his own safety as well as for the other students and Atkison’s own personal safety.

  Atkison advised the court that a surveillance camera and film”clearly shows” what happened during the incident. Attempts to acquire a copy of  Atkison’s written statement were unsuccessful. After the hearing, Atkison referred questions to attorney Tommy Lee who represents the Forest Municipal School District Superintendent Raymond Clark, who attended the hearing declined comment on the case.

   Upon inquiry from Judge Bustin, Atkison said  he did not know what the motivation behind the attack might have been but an “ongoing problem” was reported between one of  the other juveniles and other students.

  McGee’s father told Judge Bustin that his son had been the target of other students “messing with him”  in the past week or longer. McGee’s mother asked to see the video of the incident. McGee did not make any statements during the hearing.

  Police Chief Robert Roncali said his department recieved a call from the high school on the day of the accident requesting police assistance and the call advised that there were several students involved in fight in the lunch room.

  ” When we arrived,the students had been separated and we were informed that Assistant Principal Allan Atkison had been struck with a fist by the defendant,” Roncali said the other students involved were charged with assault in the juvenile justice system and released to their families.

  The motive for the fight remains unclear,Roncali said. No weapon were reported being used.

 ” We think it could have been connected to a recent ball game but we don’t know for sure,” Roncali said. ” The investigation is still underway.”

  Sheriff Mike Lee said his department was also called in for assistant and provided backup to the Forest Police Department. Lee said he and Assistant Jail Administrator Sammy Lovett Jr. were on their way to lunch when a callcame through 911 dispatch about the fight. Lee said two additional calls were recieved through 911.

  “When we got there, there was still a lot of yelling and shouting going on and several people had to be restrained. Two arrests had been made at that time and one of the arrested persons was in the school office under arrest,” Lee said. “It appeared that the fight started between two students and it just escaluted from there. One female student was taken into custody for disorderly conduct. There were alot of students visibly shaken. It definitely seemed like a melee.”

  This is the second disturbance in about three weeks since a stabbing incident that occurred within 500 feet of the Forest Municipal School District’s bus shop near U.S. Highway 80 the week before Thanksgiving. Two female students were charged with assault and a box cutter knife was involved. The case remains in juvenile court as the name of those students were not released.

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