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Lawmakers: Arrest Of 6-Year-Olds 'Inexcusable'

Posted at 10:27 AM, Apr 19, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-19 20:56:50-04

Two lawmakers have called for a further investigation after several children were reportedly handcuffed and arrested at a Murfreesboro elementary school. 

Some of the children were as young as 6-years-old. 

According to reports, at least five students were handcuffed at Hobgood Elementary School for not stopping an off-campus fight. 

Angry parents first aired complaints Sunday at First Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, where more than 150 people gathered for a community meeting over Friday's incident.

The Rev. James McCarroll said the students were detained and later released from a juvenile center.

Zacchaeus Crawford, who said three of his children were handcuffed at the school, called the actions "nonsense in the fullest definition."

Murfreesboro Police Chief Karl Durr and City Manager Rob Lyons attended the meeting. Durr said he would begin reviewing the situation Monday. Lyons said: "If something needs to be corrected, it will be."

Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Stewart and Rep. John Ray Clemmons called the incident “inexcusable” and requested an investigation into the matter. 

On Tuesday, officials with Murfreesboro Schools released the following statement:

The arrests that occurred at Hobgood Elementary last week were not a result of any behavior that occurred on school property.  The school was merely the location of the arrests.

The authority of the school is superseded when law enforcement or the Department of Children Services become involved.