Hawai‘i Island Police were summoned to a local high school today, February 6, 2024, following reports of a potential altercation that was to take place on the school campus. Police arrived at the school during recess hours in order to provide presence and prevent any altercation from taking place.
At about 9:30 a.m., a verbal altercation took place while police and school staff were present. School staff and police noted that the altercation was quickly turning physical, and took action to stop the altercation from escalating, but during a potential brawl between two students, a police officer collided with a 51-year-old female administrator who was knocked to the ground while trying to separate the two students. The administrator did not receive any injuries, was treated at the hospital as a precaution, and later released. The involved students were suspended from school.
In all, five students received suspension days in accordance with the Department of Education Chapter 19 Rules of Conduct.
The incident was captured on various cellular devices and posted to social media outlets, quickly popularizing and overplaying the incident with police and the school administrator, indicating that she was injured and is in critical condition. This is completely false.
Assistant Police Chief Kenneth Quiocho credited the school resource officer at the school for being there and in a position to get additional resources to quell the incident early on. Quiocho said “it was disappointing to see the social media posts. The posts take away from the seriousness of what is occurring in our schools, and it is hopeful that the public will look at the incident and not believe everything they see and read on social media without supporting facts. This incident was serious and it was more alarming that this kind of altercation takes place in our schools.”
Police will continue to monitor any further potential incidents and take preventive measures to stop similar incidents from occurring. This particular incident demonstrates how imperative it is in our school system that we have school resource officers present and available as they are vital to the safety of our children in our schools
