Farmington student jumped and hospitalized during lunchtime, family plans to press charges
Violent high school fight caught on camera in Farmington
The student, 14-year-old Phillip Hems, got a concussion after he was jumped by multiple students at lunchtime on Tuesday at Farmington High School. The video which captured the fight, shows a teacher trying to break it up.
FARMINGTON, Mich. (FOX 2) - A fight at Farmington High School landed a student in the hospital with others in custody, and it was all caught on video.
Big picture view:
The student, 14-year-old Phillip Hems, got a concussion after he was jumped by multiple students at lunchtime on Tuesday at Farmington High School. The video which captured the fight, shows a teacher trying to break it up. However, the big question the family is asking is where security was when it all went down.
Phillip's stepmom told FOX 2 that police did get involved and the kids who allegedly attacked him were arrested and had a hearing Wednesday morning. She says she plans to press charges.
What led up to the fight?
Phillip says he used to be friends with one of the kids involved and thinks it had something to do with a seat at lunch, but he did not expect to get assaulted by multiple people.
What happened before the fight?
What they're saying:
"I was right next to the three kids that hurt me and I said, I don’t feel safe next to you guys, I’m going to go," Phillip said. "They started insulting me and I said I was going to leave. Another kid took off my glasses and scratched my face. I don’t have the glasses now, I don’t know where they are. But then I pushed him and I don’t know who hit me, but somebody hit me in the back of the head. I was on the floor, I didn’t know what happened and they just kept hitting my head. And I really couldn’t do anything."
"I just want to express my disappointment in the school district. We’ve had two other incidents that happened with him," said stepmom Christine. "We’ve had phone calls with the same kid. I feel like the school failed to address it. The school failed to respond and failed to avoid this situation from happening. It was pure negligence on the school and he didn’t deserve it. I want to see some extra measures in place and, if not, we can look elsewhere for education for our kids."
What the school is telling us
The school district said appropriate disciplinary action has been taken and provided a statement to FOX 2 reading:
"Appropriate disciplinary and administrative actions are being taken. What happened is deeply concerning. Violence has no place in our schools, and this incident does not reflect the kind of school community we expect or work every day to create. A video can capture a difficult moment, but it cannot capture the full story of a school community. We will continue to address this incident appropriately, support those in and reinforce the expectations we have for how we treat one another."
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The Source: FOX 2 used information from Farmington High School and student Phillip Asare for details in this report.