Upset middle school student in Beaufort Co. threatens violence against administrator, cops say
A Lady’s Island Middle School student threatened to attack an assistant principal earlier this month with various items found in a supply closet, including a claw hammer and a screwdriver, according to the Beaufort Police Department.
The student, who is a minor and not being named, was sent to the school social worker around 10 a.m. Dec. 2 because they had “issues” with another student. As they talked, the student became “impatient and irritable,” police said, because he was pulled out of the class and wanted to go back while the second student was allowed to remain in class.
The first student began pacing in and out of the office while the social worker said she tried to get him to sit down. Instead, he grabbed a hammer from a supply closet directly across from the social worker’s office and claimed he would use it to hit the assistant principal. Specifically, he said he would use the “claw part” of the hammer and made “hitting gestures,” police said in a report. The student then grabbed a screwdriver and a plastic spoon and said he would also use those items to hit the assistant principal.
When confronted by police, the student said that he was upset because the second student had pushed him in the hallway and, when he told the assistant principal he could not be in class with that student, he was the only one sent to the guidance counselor.
The student was petitioned to Family Court for making student threats, according to police.
Per policy, the Beaufort County School District does not comment on school disciplinary matters or law enforcement investigations, district spokesperson Candace Bruder said.
Lady’s Island Middle School, which has students in grades 6-8, reported 19 incidents of physical attacks without a weapon and 26 incidents of threats of an attack without a weapon during the 2021-22 school year, according to the latest data from the South Carolina School Report Card, a system that evaluates school districts based on student performance, safety and teacher qualifications.
This story was originally published December 8, 2022 at 2:16 PM.
