Report raises questions about Murfreesboro arrests at school

NASHVILLE – A police commander in Tennessee has been placed on administrative leave as a new report raises questions about the chain of events that led to several elementary school children being handcuffed and arrested.

An internal review report released by the Murfreesboro Police Department Thursday says school resource officers raised concerns about the plan to arrest the children between the age of 9 and 12 at Hobgood Elementary School on April 15, but the schoolchildren were taken into custody anyway. The report addressed the arrests of four children at the school. But a Murfreesboro police spokesman said six other children also were named in a juvenile court petition.

Records show that the children were charged with “criminal responsibility for conduct of another,” after allegedly witnessing a fight and not intervening.