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From left, Tayler Clemm of Larimer, Tina Doose of Forest Hills, Alliance for Police Accountability member Laura Lythos and the alliance’s education and rights advocate, Danika Reed, watch a video of an incident that occurred at Woodland Hills High School.
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Police watchdog group calls for investigation of Woodland Hills incidents

Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette

Police watchdog group calls for investigation of Woodland Hills incidents

The Alliance for Police Accountability called Wednesday for action against the administrators in the Woodland Hills School District who are accused of assaulting students.

Citing the allegations by four students, leaders of the alliance, at a meeting at the Kingsley Association in Larimer, demanded a sweeping investigation.

“We would like Woodland Hills School District to be investigated as a whole,” said Brandi Fisher, executive director of the alliance.

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Concerns about the treatment of students in the district surfaced in 2016 after a student recorded high school principal Kevin Murray threatening to “knock his ... teeth” down his throat.

This screengrab from surveillance videos released last week by attorney Todd Hollis shows an incident involving a Woodland Hills student being subdued in a school office by police and school officials.
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Todd Hollis, an attorney representing some of the students, released a video Tuesday that shows school resource Officer Steve Shaulis and student Que’Chawn Wade, 14, get into an altercation in an office that ended when the officer punched out the student’s front tooth. Que’Chawn had to be taken by ambulance to a hospital, where his tooth was sewn back into place.

 

Mr. Hollis also released a video from March 2015 that shows Officer Shaulis, a Churchill police officer, grabbing a student and throwing him to the ground. Mr. Murray then can be seen holding the student down as Officer Shaulis shocks him with a Taser.

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Officer Shaulis has not been charged in either incident but no longer works at the school. Mr. Murray was placed on paid leave for about a month in 2016, but has since been reinstated. The Woodland Hills school board named Mr. Murray coach of the high school football team in April.

The alliance wants Officer Shaulis and Mr. Murray to be charged, as well as having Mr. Murray removed from the school. Ms. Fisher said District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala, whose office could investigate criminal matters in the Woodland Hills School District, has been reluctant to file charges.

Asked for comment after the meeting, Zappala spokesman Mike Manko said:

“In the course of the investigative work by the Allegheny County Police, our office was made aware of the videos that were shown to the media Tuesday. As we have previously stated, we are working with other agencies, both state and federal, to determine what, if any, crimes have been committed and which venue best addresses the issues presented.

Woodland Hills school employee charged with assaulting student
Elizabeth Behrman
Woodland Hills school employee charged with assaulting student

“The investigation is ongoing and, when appropriate, we will comment further.”

“The things that we’ve seen are egregious,” Ms. Fisher said.

“Nobody understands why the district attorney doesn’t see it that way. And because he doesn’t, we’re just asking for him to allow someone else to investigate it.”

Darnika Reed, the alliance’s education rights advocate, presented several ways that an investigation could be initiated: calls to the Childline statewide hotline; filing an educator misconduct report through the state’s department of education; or filing a complaint through the federal Office of Civil Rights.

About a dozen people at the meeting pledged to call Childline, a child protective services program designed to accept child abuse referrals.

Andrew Goldstein: agoldstein@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1352.

First Published: May 4, 2017, 4:00 a.m.

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From left, Tayler Clemm of Larimer, Tina Doose of Forest Hills, Alliance for Police Accountability member Laura Lythos and the alliance’s education and rights advocate, Danika Reed, watch a video of an incident that occurred at Woodland Hills High School.  (Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette)
Alliance for Police Accountability member Laura Lythos plays the video of the recent Woodland Hills High School incident involving student Que'Chawn Wade and school resource Officer Steve Shaulis.  (Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette)
Lizzie Silver and Momin Malik, both members of the Alliance for Police Accountability and of Shady Side, write down the specifics of the recent Woodland Hills High School incident involving students and officers.  (Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette)
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