Steel Valley Middle School Security Guard Fired After Incident With Student

MUNHALL (KDKA) - A security guard has been fired after an incident with a student at Steel Valley Middle School.

The incident took place on Monday in the school's cafeteria. The security guard was escorted from the campus and the district's contracted security firm fired him.

"We have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to hands on children," said Kack Modrick, director of governmental and internal affairs at State Security and Investigation Services, the firm that hired the security guard.

Modrick said the guard acted inappropriately with the 13-year-old after the student bumped into another student jokingly, and the guard addressed his behavior.

"The 13-year-old balled his fist and our guard reacted and grabbed him slammed him down on the desk," said Modrick, speaking to KDKA via phone. "That is totally inappropriate. Our guards are trained. They know what the drill is, they know what the procedure is. Had the 13-year-old attacked him, he is allowed to defend himself, but he is not allowed to touch a student."

The guard, whose name has not been released, worked for the security firm for nearly two years.

Steel Valley School District Superintendent Edward Wehrer wouldn't elaborate on the incident, but issued the following statement:

"We had an incident in our Middle School cafeteria on Monday, November 2, in which a security guard initiated aggression against one of our students. Such behavior is unacceptable. We immediately escorted the guard from our property, our contracted security firm fired the guard, and we notified the Munhall Police, who are investigating. I want to assure our parents and community that we make student safety a priority every day and Steel Valley is truly a caring place for our children."

Munhall Police filed charges Wednesday afternoon against the security who is now identified as 28-year-old Shaun Thomas. He is facing counts of simple assault and harassment.

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