Sheriff: Mother, daughter arrested after assaulting ‘bullying’ students at school

DALZELL, S.C. (WIS/Gray News) - Authorities in South Carolina are investigating a case involving two family members and an assault at a middle school.

The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office reports Mamie Smith and Whitley Smith entered Ebenezer Middle School on Wednesday and confronted a student in a hallway.

Authorities said the mother and daughter pushed the student against a wall and hit the juvenile in the head and face. Two other students were also pushed and hit in the incident, as reported by WIS.

One of the students was taken for medical treatment by their parents, with the other two released to their families.

The sheriff’s office said Mamie Smith and Whitley Smith were later arrested on charges that include assault and disturbing schools.

Sumter County Sheriff Anthony Dennis released the following statement regarding the incident:

“This type of behavior is criminal and should never be considered as the appropriate way to deal with matters. It is my understanding that these two subjects were responding to the school because they believed their family member was being bullied. Our investigation showed that the students who were viciously attacked were not even the students who these subjects believed had bullied their family members.

We work very hard to protect all students in our schools. The fact is, the students who were reported as bullying these subjects’ family member was actually in the office being dealt with when this attack took place.”

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