JSO: Sergeant uses Taser on student on bus that transported wounded teen

Mother of 15-year-old says police 'had no business tasing him'

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After police responded to Wednesday morning's shooting of a Westside High School student who was transported to a fire station by a school bus, another student who was aboard that bus was stunned with Taser by a sergeant with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, according to the incident report obtained Thursday by News4Jax.

Cellphone video obtained by News4Jax showed the incident, although it is dark and hard to tell much. 

Duval County School Board member Scott Shine said two students being questioned by police were uncooperative and one tried to take an officer's Taser gun, but police only addressed it as an incident.

According to the police report, a 15-year-old student who was on the bus told a JSO officer, "I know what happened but I'm not going to tell you. I don't want my name involved in that." 

The report states the teenage boy became agitated and tried to walk away and when the officer grabbed his arm, he continued to try and flee.

According to the report, a JSO sergeant then grabbed the teen to put him in handcuffs, but the teen clenched his arms and disobeyed commands to stop resisting and that's when the sergeant struck his thigh three times.

The report states that the sergeant warned the teen he was going to use a Taser, and when the teen still didn't comply, the sergeant used the Taser on the teen's lower right back area.

During the incident, the report notes, the teen had tried to grab the sergeant's Taser.

The Sheriff's Office notified the student's mother. 

Stephanie Jenkins told News4Jax on Wednesday that it was her 15-year-old son, who said he didn’t have any information to give police.

"They say he reached for the Taser. He did not reach for Taser. It's on video," Jenkins said. 

The boy's mother said her son's heart was racing after he was shocked, so he was taken to a hospital, then transferred to a juvenile detention center. 

"They had no business tasing him. He is a minor. They shouldn't have been asking him nothing about nothing without a parent around. Period. He should not have put his hands on my child," Stephanie Jenkins said. "My child should not have been tased."

Jenkins said the whole situation was a mess.

"He doesn't even want to go back to that school," she said. "My son has been asking me to leave the city anyways."


About the Author:

Lifetime Jacksonville resident anchors the 8 and 9 a.m. weekday newscasts and is part of the News4Jax I-Team.