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Feb 1, 2007 11:56 pm US/Eastern
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Students Pulled From School Where Teen Died
by Kai Jackson
KEYMAR, Md. (WJZ/AP) ―
Growing fallout after the mysterious death of a teenage boy at a Carroll County private school.
State leaders are trying to find out what led to the death of Isaiah Simmons.
Kai Jackson explains dozens of students are no longer at the Bowling Brook Preparatory School.
Ed Hopkins from Carroll County Department of Juvenile Services says, "Now the request to have the juveniles removed from the facility is coming from their individual council, whether it be a private attorney or public defender."
Before Simmons died, 73 students attended Bowling Brook. That number has dropped to 25.
Simmons was pronounced dead at Carroll Hospital Center last week after staff at Bowling Brook Preparatory School, about 40 miles northwest of Baltimore, placed him in physical restraints during a confrontation.
The death is being investigated by the Carroll County's sheriff's department amid allegations from some witnesses that staff restrained Simmons inappropriately.
The report, released Tuesday, provided the school's first detailed description of the Jan. 23 incident. Posted below is a copy of the report:
The school also issued a statement about their policy concerning student restraint policies.
Click here to read the full statement. School officials told investigators Simmons became enraged for no apparent reason and was restrained after threatening to harm other students and staff. He lost consciousness as he struggled with staff members, the sheriff's office said last week in a statement.
Investigators who arrived at the scene found paramedics treating Simmons for cardiac arrest.
A preliminary examination by the state medical examiner's office did not reveal any apparent trauma that may have led to Simmons' death. Blood and drug tests ordered by investigators are expected to take several weeks to complete, the sheriff's office said.
The Department of Juvenile Services placed Simmons at the residential school following a 2006 conviction for robbery with a deadly weapon, the sheriff's office said.
The school said staffers first tried to calm the situation verbally, but when he continued to struggle restrained him in a sitting position and finally in a prone position.
After an unspecified period of time, the report says, "Simmons stopped struggling and became non-responsive."
"Actions of all staff were in compliance with Bowling Brook policies. Staff followed procedures in dealing with unfortunate medical emergency," the report concludes.
Some students who witnessed the struggle saw it differently. Bowling Brook's report provides the first detailed description by the school of the Jan. 23 incident that ended with Simmons' death.
It differs significantly in tone from the vivid account given by Ronnell Williams, 18, one of at least six Bowling Brook students who witnessed the incident.
"They grabbed (Simmons) and slammed his ass down," Ronnell Williams said. "He was face down, eagle-spread, his arms was out and his legs, too," he said. "There were five staff. One on each leg, one on each arm, and one had his knees on (Simmons') back."
"He told them he was hurting," Williams said. "He told them he couldn't breathe. Nobody wanted to believe him."
At least three other student eyewitnesses have given similar accounts to their lawyers, including statements that staff "sat on" Simmons as they restrained him, according to the Maryland public defender's office.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)