Girl Tasered at School

Friday, January 13, 2006

(01/12/06 -- BUNN) (WTVD) -- The family of a Franklin County girl wants to know why a school resource officer tasered her Thursday.

Eleventh-grader Angel Debnam says she tried to intervene in a fight at Bunn High School. When she was told to go to the principal's office, Debnam says Lt. Frank Murray tasered her.

"Something sticks in you, and it's like a wire," Debnam said. "When I was on the ground crying and shaking, he asked me, 'Was that enough? Are you calmed down now?' and he did it again."

Tasers are non-lethal weapons that can send 50,000 volts through the human body. Despite their non-lethal status, a number of deaths have been linked to the use of the devices.

Debnam says she was not fighting and was walking toward the principal's office when she was shocked. Danielle Kolbe barely knows Debnam, but saw the incident and backs up the girl's claims.

"All of a sudden, you hear her scream, 'Stop! You're hurting me!'" Kolbe said. "The next think I know, she's pushed to the floor, and he's out with his taser gun, tasering her. So, she's sitting there shaking and screaming, 'That hurts!' He does it again, but it's really awkward -- the fact that he as a smile planted on his face."

Debnam was arrested and charged with resisting arrest. She was freed later on $1,500 bond.

The principal of Bunn High School declined an on-camera interview, but told Eyewitness News that the taser can be used "when a student is deemed out-of-control or they did not obey a specific rule."

The Debnams are planning to file a lawsuit against the Franklin County School System and the Bunn Police Department.

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