Deputy Little ready to return to work, wants "accountability for actions"
Lenoir County Sheriff Jackie Rogers and Deputy Christopher Little held a press conference Friday at the county commissioner's chamber to address an incident that occurred at the Lenoir County Learning Academy.
Sheriff Rogers began by detailing the events of Wednesday morning. "On Wednesday, about 8:30 AM, we had an incident at the Lenoir County Learning Academy where a fight broke out on a school bus. Deputy Little attempted to intervene and was assaulted, sustaining about 18 staples to the back of his head."
Deputy Little, recently promoted, shared his account of the incident. "While getting kids off the bus, I observed a fight starting. I attempted to break it up, but neither of the students desisted. I managed to grab both students and tried to restrain them, but one of them kicked off the side of the bus, causing us to fall. I sustained a laceration to the back of my head."
Sheriff Rogers revealed that the students involved, aged 12 and 16, faced charges including assault, resisting arrest, and damage to county property. "The 16-year-old is still in custody at a secure facility, while the 12-year-old was released to their mother," Sheriff Rogers stated.
Regarding the future of the students, Deputy Little deferred to the judicial system. "I’m going to leave that up to the criminal justice system. At this point, there does have to be accountability for actions."
Despite the incident, Deputy Little expressed his commitment to his role at the Learning Academy. "We have a lot of great students at the Learning Academy. I love my kids over there and will continue to work there," he affirmed.
Deputy Little described a warm reception when he returned to the school. "While I was in the hospital, I was getting texts from teachers at the school and I have a really good relationship with a lot of our kids there and the school was very upset. So I went back to the school and I ended up spending about 30 minutes there and the reception there is just great. A lot of them were happy to see me up and on my feet back at the school. The staff and the kids there are amazing."
Sheriff Rogers also highlighted the impact of having law enforcement at the Learning Academy. "It's an incredible opportunity to reach out and get to know our youth and to build lasting bonds," he emphasized.
As for the minors involved, “We will leave this up to the judicial system. They'll go and they'll have a court date and they'll go to court and that's their decision to make,” said Rogers.
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