Deputies take down student in knife incident

Deputies from the Fallbrook Sheriff’s Substation used a bean bag gun to subdue a 15-year-old special education student when he refused to hand over a knife to deputies at Fallbrook High School on Thursday, March 8. The student had produced the knife in an interaction with his teacher.

“The student was visibly upset and yelling loudly,” said Sheriff’s Sgt. Rich Hendrickson. “He was given several verbal commands to get on the ground and he refused to comply. The deputies fired one round from a bean bag gun to gain compliance.” After the bean bag struck him in the torso, the student complied with the deputies’ request.

Deputies responded to a call from the school that morning at 8:55 a.m., at which time they were advised that the student had a knife and was unwilling to give it up.

“The student was ordered several times to show his hands, but he insisted on keeping his hands in his jacket pocket and refused to comply,” Hendrickson said. “Because his jacket was unzipped and he kept moving his hands around, the bean bag was deployed.” After deputies secured the student, there was no knife found on his person.

Shortly afterward, a school staff member said they had found the knife and handed it to the deputy.

“The staff member said the student had tossed it on the ground before deputies arrived,” Hendrickson said. “The deputies were under the belief [that the student] was still in possession of the knife and, because he refused to comply, there was a threat insinuated.”

The student was driven to Fallbrook Hospital for treatment of a bruise to the abdomen, caused by the bean bag. Sheriff’s department sources described being struck with a bean bag similar to “having the breath knocked out of you.”

“Any time we deploy a weapon we are going to have that medically evaluated,” Hendrickson explained. “The student was eventually released into the custody of his parents.” Hendrickson said the juvenile services department will follow up on the incident and determine whether the youth will be referred to probation or if this will be handled as a diversion case.

“If we handle it in-house, we’ll work with the parents and the [student] and utilize other services depending on the particular needs in this situation,” Hendrickson said.

Fallbrook Union High School District Superintendent Tom Anthony said the teacher involved called on the services of a counselor and assistant principal during the incident.

“As far as I could tell, [the student] never really threatened anyone; he just wouldn’t relinquish the knife,” Anthony said. “In the ten years I’ve been with the district, I’ve never seen an incident like this.”