Family calls for upgraded charges against former SRO who slammed NC middle school student

VANCE COUNTY, N.C. — There is new fallout after a video showed a Vance County school resource officer violently slamming a middle school student to the ground twice before dragging him off camera

We first reported on the incident at Vance County Middle School in December.

Now, the 11-year-old boy’s parents want the SRO charged with a felony after a doctor diagnosed their son with a concussion.

>> Watch the video above to see the surveillance video of the disturbing incident.

There are also calls for the school’s assistant principal to be charged with felony assault. A 12-year-old girl said he slammed her into a locker and dislocated he shoulder on the same day.

“I’m afraid to go to school because I don’t know if I’m going to be safe there anymore,” student Mik-Tazza Wynn said.

The school district announced it suspended the assistant principal in December, pending the outcome of the investigation.

The district attorney will decide later this week if charges will be filed against the assistant principal. He has not said if he will upgrade the charges against the former SRO.

Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame confirmed to our partners at WTVD that the deputy had been fired “effective immediately” following the incident.

The deputy was previously on paid administrative leave.

Previously, the Vance County District Attorney said the law would not allow him to file felony charges against the officer.

DA Mike Waters said “by the grace of God” the 11-year-old boy was not seriously injured and had no fractures or broken bones. Waters said the extent of the injuries dictated that Vance Middle SRO Warren Durham could not be charged with a felony by North Carolina law.

However, Durham was charged with assault on a child under 12 and misdemeanor child abuse.

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In the video, the student, who officials said is younger than 12, can be seen walking in a Vance County middle school when Durham stops, lifts the student against a wall, flips the child head-down, then slams him to the ground.

The officer then drags the child and drops him again.

“We went over and when we first saw the video, we were stunned, we were shocked,” said Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame.

School district officials reported the officer to authorities Thursday. Brame said he asked the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to probe the situation at Vance County Middle School, which is about 45 miles north of Raleigh.

“I was stunned and shocked because I have eight grandchildren, four between the ages of 8 and 13,” Brame said Friday. “To see a child that small reminded me of one of my grandchildren.”

The boy’s father said his son is recovering at home.

Brame said Durham has worked for the sheriff’s office for two years.

A news release from Vance County Schools said student safety is of “utmost importance” to the district. It added that it was “deeply concerned” by the officer's actions.

The sheriff’s office has two resource officers assigned to the middle school.