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. )