The Roanoke Rapids Graded School District Saturday declined additional comment on apparent bullying and hazing within the high school’s football program.
In response to an email sent to Superintendent Bennett Jones and Roanoke Rapids Police Chief Lawrence Wiggins, Jones said the school investigation is ongoing and reports of arrests are “purely speculative from the district’s perspective.”
Wiggins has not yet responded to the email or to a text message sent this morning seeking comment.
The reported hazing resulted in the indefinite suspension of head coach Chris Lyons, the district said in a statement Friday. A player sustained a severe injury to his hand as a result of the reported hazing. WRAL reported that the student lost part of his finger.
In the statement Friday, the district said that after practice Thursday at approximately 6 p.m., a call was made to emergency services to respond to a report of a football player with a severe injury to his hand. Coaches, athletic officials, and school administrators were all on scene and accompanied the player to the hospital for treatment. It was then reported that the injury may have been caused by an assault or bullying behavior by one or more individuals. Law enforcement was notified, and an investigation began.
School officials Friday began conducting their own investigation, including identifying individuals who may have been involved or were potential witnesses. As of Friday, more than 20 players and individuals had been interviewed.
The investigation uncovered other instances of misconduct within the football program—including bullying or hazing behavior by a few individuals—which had not been reported until Friday.
Individuals identified as engaging in those actions have been held accountable per school and district guidelines set in the student and athlete codes of conduct. The school and district will continue to investigate any claims or concerns of misconduct, harassing behavior, or bullying.
As the investigation continues into the football program specifically, Lyons remains suspended indefinitely pending the outcome of the investigation.
Assistant Coach Dre Terry served as acting coach of the football program in the team’s loss against Warren County Friday night.
The district said the decision to move forward with Friday’s home game against Warren County “was made to not negatively impact the dozens of players, cheerleaders, band members, and families from both teams who were not involved in the incident on Thursday or any other incidents.”
In the statement, Jones said, “First, our thoughts and prayers are with our athlete who was injured yesterday. We will continue to support him and his family as he recovers.”
He added, “The Roanoke Rapids Graded School District will not tolerate bullying, harassment, hazing, or any other form of violence or intimidation in its schools or programs. We will enforce the laws and policies of our district and will continue to investigate any claims brought to school officials.”
“If students have concerns or are facing harassing behavior, we encourage them to reach out to a trusted adult in the school for help,” Jones said. “We also have the See Something, Say Something application — https://www.rrgsd.org/page/report-it — on our website to report concerns anonymously, and parents can always email their concerns to
