8 Feb 2018
A sheriff’s deputy in Cumberland County, North Carolina was caught on camera this week blasting pepper spray in a high school student’s face.
Local news station WRAL reports that the officer was at the high school to break up a physical fight that was occurring between two female students. At some point, says school officials, a 16-year-old male student tried to “inject himself into the situation.”
This led to a verbal confrontation with the deputy, who at one point grabbed the student by his shirt and repeatedly hit him in the face with pepper spray.
The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office tells WRAL that it is reviewing the incident to determine whether the officer’s use of pepper spray in that situation was justified.
In the wake of the incident, the 16-year-old student was charged with resisting an officer and with possession of marijuana.
A video of the pepper spraying caught the attention of WRAL after it was posted on Instagram — watch it below.