SC. Parents of a 16 year old student killed after attacking a police officer with a 14 inch bayonet blade Sue the School System

Parents of a 16-year-old student with Asperger’s Syndrome killed after attacking a the officer with a boynet blade at a Myrtle Beach high school nearly two years ago sued the school system, the Horry County Police Department and the officer on Friday.

Tom and Karen Varinecz said officer Marcus Rhodes was not properly trained on how to deal students with disabilities and the school system did not inform them before severely cutting back on an adult shadow who kept tabs on their son as he took regular classes.

The parents are asking for damages, but more importantly, want to make sure that the school system treats children with disabilities better and law enforcement officers in schools are better trained to death with special needs students, said lawyer Ed Bell, who is representing the family.

“The parents are much more concerned about making sure what happened never happens again,” Bell said. “They are concerned with how these children are being treated.”

Trevor Varinecz attacked Rhodes with a bayonet blade in his office at Carolina Forest High School in October 2009 and was shot five times after a struggle. Rhodes suffered superficial injuries. Prosecutors ruled the shooting was justified.

Trevor Varinecz had been in regular classes for several years with a shadow, who made sure he wasn’t overwhelmed by his work or was being picked on by classmates. But Varinecz’s parents said the school cut the amount of time the shadow spent with Varinecz from 15 hours a week to 45 minutes a week the month before he was killed without informing them, according to the lawsuit.

The teen immediately was bullied more and became so overwhelmed without the assistance that his mental condition drastically declined until the day he decided to go see the officer while carrying the bayonet, his parents said.

Varinecz asked to see Rhodes in his office the day he died, and the lawsuit said the officer improperly closed his door to meet with the teen in private and let the confrontation turn into an argument instead of seeking assistance to help with a disabled student.

The lawsuit also questioned Rhodes’ training, saying the officer who weighed 55 pounds more than the teen should have been able to disarm him without shooting him five times and should have been equipped with a non-lethal weapon, like pepper spray or a Taser.

 

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