LEXINGTON, Ky — A Lexington mother is upset with administrators at her son’s school after she says they didn’t provide details of a fight that led to her officers pepper-spraying her son.
Natasha Sanford says she rushed to Henry Clay High School after hearing from a friend that her son may have been involved in a fight. She later learned that he was not involved in the fight itself, which led to the arrests of two female students, she said.
“There were young females screaming, there were males asking for water for their eyes,” she said she saw when she first arrived at school. Her son’s eyes were still burning hours later, she said.
Fayette County Public Schools tells us 15 students were involved, and two students, both female, were arrested.
On the way to the school, a principal told her there was a fight between 2 girls and her son had been sprayed with mace. It’s the last time she’s heard from a school administrator.
She thinks the officers overreacted and abused their power. Her son has been traumatized, she said.
“He told me that they were leaving out of the area and that the officer just came and grabbed one of his friends by a backpack and threw him to the ground and they were trying to help his friend and that's when they began to spray the mace,” she said.
She doesn't understand why the officers would spray all 15 kids if they were going in the opposite direction but cautioned she isn't sure if her son is providing the full story.
“I don't know if he did do something wrong or he didn't do anything wrong,“ she said. “I never got an explanation of what happened from the principal, I couldn't speak with the officer who sprayed him with mace.
It’s what has left her so upset. She said multiple emails to the school have gone unanswered
A district spokesperson said there is an ongoing investigation, and because of that, they have no comment.
“Facts are important and it would give me an understanding of what occurred,” Sanford said.
Sanford is now encouraging parents to attend Monday’s school board meeting to share their concerns and to bring their kids. She’ll be there, she said.
