Howard Co. Family Upset Student Was Attacked At School And Administration's Reaction

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — A sophomore at Glenelg High School says she was involved in a fight with another student in January and the incident was caught on video. Another student can be seen punching Fawn Cooch in the head repeatedly. Not only is Cooch's family worried about her safety at school, but they're also upset at how the incident was handled by school officials, they told WBFF.

“I just remember being very dizzy,” Cooch told WBFF as she watched cell phone video of the incident.

Photographs of her injuries from the fight shown to WBFF show bruising on both of her knees, swollen eye sockets and injuries to her head. Chunks of her hair were lying on the floor. The fight broke out in art class and the teacher tried to break it up, Cooch said, but the other girl who attacked her hit the teacher, she told WBFF. After the fight, she was taken to the nurse's office where she asked if someone could call her father. He said no one did.

An ambulance was called to the school to treat Cooch's injuries, the family said, but only because her dad asked for it, not school officials.

The family reached out to Project Baltimore.

“It's like they try to sweep everything under the rug,” Bill Cooch, Fawn’s father, told WBFF. “I said, ‘Yes, call the ambulance, get them there to check her out.'"

The family then called Howard County Police who responded to Glenelg High School. The Cooches say administrators tried to convince them not to press charges and let the school handle it. They say they plan to press charges.

School officials declined an interview with WBFF but did send a statement to Project Baltimore noting that “Since the incident and any associated responses involve minors, we are unable to discuss it publicly. As much of your inquiry relates to the involvement of first responders, I spoke with the public information office for the Howard County Police Department and was informed that they, too, are unable to clarify the facts of the incident since it involves juveniles. Perhaps the State Attorney's Office may be able to provide clarity from their perspective.”

Read more at WBFF