A Bloomington Police Department officer suffered injuries to his mouth and eyes after responding to a call from Bloomington High School North about an aggressive student at 2:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Students and teachers vacated the classroom when the 16-year-old male student became aggressive, according to BPD Captain Ryan Pedigo.
Pedigo said the officer approached one of the classroom windows from the outside of the building. The window had already been damaged by the student. The officer was attempting to speak with the student when he threw a kitchen knife through the damaged window, striking the officer in the mouth. Broken glass from the window got into the officer’s eyes. The officer required stitches for his mouth, and medics cleaned his eyes of glass when they arrived on the scene.
Pedigo said more BPD officers arrived on the scene after this incident. One of them knew the student and was able to deescalate the situation and convince the student to go to the hospital. The student’s mother drove him to the hospital where paperwork was filled out for immediate detention because the police believed he had a mental health crisis, Pedigo said.
The damage to the classroom is estimated to be between $5,000 and $10,000.
