SUMTER COUNTY, S.C. — Authorities have made multiple arrests, including a parent, following separate fights at different schools in Sumter County on Friday morning.
The Sumter County Sheriff's Office said the first fight happened at R.E. Davis School around 9:17 a.m. A school resource officer reported the fight over police radio. Authorities said a juvenile and a mother who didn't have permission to be in the area of the school where the assault happened assaulted a student.
The parent, Nessia Gibson, was arrested and charged with third-degree assault and battery and disturbing schools. As of Friday night, the sheriff's office said she was awaiting a bond hearing. Her child, who was also accused of assault, was later released to a relative and petitioned to family court.
At 9:22 a.m., administrators at Lakewood High School called 911 and reported a separate assault involving a 17-year-old who allegedly attacked two students. The sheriff's office said the 17-year-old also hit a deputy while being arrested.
The teen was charged with two counts of third-degree assault and battery, one count of first-degree assault and battery, resisting arrest and assault of a police officer. The teen was taken to the Department of Juvenile Justice and has been petitioned to family court. The deputy who responded to the incident has been treated and released from Prisma Tuomey Hospital, authorities said.
In a statement released Friday night, Sheriff Anthony Dennis thanked the deputies for their quick response. He vowed that his office would hold accountable any adults or children who disrupt the learning process with violence.
He also said that the two incidents were "isolated and unrelated."
He added that additional deputies responded to the schools after the assaults.
