The images captured on a cell phone at REACH! Partnership School in Northeast Baltimore speak for themselves as a bulky, armed school police officer brutally slaps and kicks a young man half his size, and now local leaders are speaking out against the brutality.
"As a parent of a Baltimore City school student, I was appalled by what I saw. Behavior that was demonstrated on the video is certainly something you never want to see anyone treated like that," Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said.
Both of the officers who appear in the video and City School Police Chief Marshall Goodwin have been placed on administrative leave and the Baltimore City Police Department's internal affairs division is now assisting in a criminal investigation into the apparent assault.
See also: Video shows officer hitting, kicking student at Baltimore City school
Acting Police Chief Akil Hamm said Wednesday the victim in the video was not a student at the school and had entered the building without permission.
"There was a call for service for an intruder in the building and our officers were called because of the intruder and this happened after the officers escorted the two unknown citizens outside of the building," Hamm said.
It was on the stairs leading to the building's entrance where things turned physical.
Unlike officers assigned to that school who are prohibited from carrying arms during the school day, those seen in the video were part of a roving foot patrol and were carry handguns.
The same officers who had confronted the young intruder at 10:17 a.m. had been called on the carpet that afternoon, and no matter how the incident started, school leaders say there's no excuse for how it finished.
"As a former building principal, as a father, as a man--I was totally appalled by what I saw... totally appalled. There is no reason that such behavior should ever take place," said School Supports Chief Officer Karl E. Perry.
In addition to the criminal inquiry, city school police have also notified the city state's attorney's office and are conducting an internal, administrative investigation.
They are asking the young victim and the person who took the video to come forward to aid in those investigations.
Download the ABC2 News app for the iPhone, Kindle and Android.
