2 Ocean Twp. Middle Schoolers Beat Classmate, Threatened To Call ICE On Him: Sources

OCEAN TOWNSHIP, NJ — Two students at Ocean Township Intermediate School assaulted a classmate, injuring him so badly he had to be sent to the hospital, a source told Patch.

The injured student is Hispanic and the two students who beat him, both Caucasian, threatened to call Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) on him while beating him with a metal water bottle, according to someone with knowledge of the case but asked not to be named due to the sensitive nature of it. The two students also called the other boy racial slurs.

The source said local law enforcement officers told him this happened.

Ocean Twp. school superintendent Kelly Weldon confirmed an incident happened Tuesday afternoon at the middle school. She said she could not release more details on what she described as a "juvenile police matter."

"The school district is working closely with the Ocean Township Police Department to gather all information related to an altercation that took place at TOIS (Township of Ocean Intermediate School) yesterday afternoon," Weldon said, in part, in this letter she sent to the community May 6. "The investigation is ongoing. Please know the district will fully investigate what led to this and address all behaviors in line with our student handbook and our Student Code of Conduct."

For reasons that are unclear, the school district issued a shelter-in-place lockdown the day after the incident, Wednesday, and the school district did not tell parents what was going on, which many Ocean Twp. parents are upset about.

Weldon acknowledged that in her May 6 letter:

"I understand that members of our community are upset about a lack of communication from our district, and I want you to know I take these criticisms to heart," she said. "I am writing to you today to shed what light I can on recent events at the intermediate school. As you may know, a Shelter in Place notification was sent earlier today to the TOIS parent community. The district apologizes for the delay in sending this notification to our parents. The administration was involved in an investigation; however, it should have been sent earlier, and for that I apologize. We need to do better, and we will."

She said counselors are available to speak with students who may be upset about the incident.

Ocean Twp. Police Chief Mike Sorrentino said police would not be releasing any details, as it was a matter between juveniles that happened on school grounds.

State Sen. Vin Gopal, who represents this area, said in a Facebook post his office is aware of "a serious incident between students in Ocean Township," and that his office is working with the Monmouth County Prosecutor.