A Cobb County school resource officer who pepper sprayed Floyd Middle School students last week defended her actions in a report, saying she tried to use the spray in a way that would break up a fight between two girls.
Some parents of students accidentally sprayed have criticized the officer's actions and demanded the officer be fired. Cobb officials are investigating the incident.
“I sprayed from the bottom of the group so that I could prevent spraying the teachers, other staff or other students that were in the immediate area,” the officer, Queenesta Neville-Belle, wrote in an incident report obtained Thursday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution through the Georgia Open Records Act. “The pepper spray has quite a bit of range, so by spraying from a strategic angle underneath, it controlled the amount of people that would be instantly affected.”
Neville-Belle wrote in her report she used the spray because the girls ignored her commands to stop. The officer said several teachers and school staff were unable to stop the girls, who were punching, kicking and pulling each other’s hair and clothes, according to the report.
None of the students pepper sprayed were seriously harmed, Cobb officials said.
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