One week after an altercation between a police officer and a student on the school grounds at the Cobequid Education Centre in Truro, N.S., the student's family has filed a formal complaint and hired a lawyer.
Captured on multiple cell phones and later shared and posted online, the altercation followed a fight between students.
In a statement to CTV News a day after the Oct. 23 incident, Truro Police Chief Dave McNeil said the incident escalated after a student refused to follow orders.
"When a police officer arrived at the school, he was met at the front of the school by school administrators and a number of students," MacNeil said.
"The officer engaged in dialogue with school administration and a student was asked to leave the premises of the school. When the student refused to leave the school premises, the officer attempted to arrest the student. When the arrest was attempted, a second student interfered and assaulted the police officer," said the statement.
"At this time, the altercation heightened."
"I was scared," the student told CTV News Monday, seated next to their father.
"He (the police officer) said he was going to have to bring me to the police station, so I said, 'OK. That's fine.' And I took my bag off and I put my hands behind my back and he was going to put the cuffs on me. And then one of the other students at the school came over and grabbed his arm, and pulled his arm. And that's when he shoved her back, and then my brain just blacked out. And that's when I turned around and I was like, shoving him off of me," the student said.
"I don't want to say this, but I have really bad PTSD, especially with men. And, I was terrified. I didn't know what was going to happen."
"I thought it was very excessive for this police officer to be throwing my kid around - whether it was my child or somebody else's," said the father, who's filed a formal complaint, confirmed to CTV News in an email from the town's Manager of Strategic Initiatives and Communications.
"I can confirm a complaint was filed under the NS Police Act and Truro Police is having an outside police agency look into this complaint to ensure a transparent and impartial investigation," said Alison Grant.
The province's Serious Incident Response Team tells CTV News it hasn't been contacted so far.
The incident is worrisome for the family because the student is prone to seizures and the videos appear to show them unconscious on the grass after the altercation.
"We're not sure what's causing them," said the father.
"He's taking ten pills a day. He's been in two comas in ten months and ICU three times."
"Every single time I have a seizure and see myself in the hospital, I don't know when it's going to be my last day," said the student.
As it stands, the two students are facing three charges each: Assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, and trespassing.
Police have said bodycam and surveillance video will reveal the whole truth of what took place.
The father says his lawyer has also requested copies of those videos.
In addition to the charges, the students was also suspended from school for ten days.
