Copyright Charleston Post and Courier
NORTH CHARLESTON — A student at Fort Dorchester High School was detained by a school resource officer Nov. 7 after staff said he had a weapon. Instead, the teen actually had a gaming console in his pocket. According to a news release from the North Charleston Police Department, a staff member told the school resource officer about a student who told another kid that he was carrying a gun. The officer then went to the cafeteria, where he identified a student matching the description given by the staff member. “When asked to remove his hands from his hoodie pockets, the student said he had a weapon,” the release said. The officer drew his weapon and told the student, 16-year-old Landon Murray, to lie on the ground. Murray was subsequently detained, and nobody was harmed in the incident. Photos of the incident were widely circulated on social media. Some people expressed support for how the officer handled the situation and were grateful no one was hurt. Others criticized school staff for not providing the officer more specifics about Murray, whose lawyer Jerod Frazier confirmed is autistic and has permission to carry his gaming console — a Nintendo Switch — around school with him. Frazier said the teen’s individualized education program, or IEP, allowed him to have the gaming console on his person. The attorney clarified he had an additional Switch in his backpack because it’s important to his IEP. “Switch” is also a slang term for an illegal device used turn a Glock handgun into an automatic firearm. Murray is high-functioning but has verbal cues and tics that are noticeable and should have tipped the officer off, Frazier said. He added that the student normally has an adult shadow with him during school, but the assigned person was absent the day of the incident. “The biggest mistake here was the administration not providing him with either another shadow or an alternative plan and saying, ‘Hey, your shadow is not here. You can't leave the classroom right now,’” Frazier said. He added that when the incident occurred, Murray was walking with a friend who was not a special needs student. “But had he had an adult with him, especially one familiar with his IEP, they could’ve said, ‘Hey man, when he says Switch, you know he means the game system,” he said. Frazier, a former police officer, said there is a unique protocol for addressing students who are potentially armed. It usually involves the student being moved to a separate, secured area — often by multiple officers — and not in the cafeteria while other students and faculty are present, he said. Frazier added that the situation could have ended poorly if it were an armed person with ill intent, as that person could have gotten a shot off, either at the officer or someone else. “Or conversely, if this kid’s level of autism wasn't as high-functioning as it is, had he not complied, or put his hand in his pocket, the officer had his gun drawn. He'd have gotten shot and murdered over a game system in his school by an SRO,” the attorney said. Frazier said Murray’s family contacted him because he was being painted as a liar who brought a weapon into school on social media in what Frazier described as cyberbullying. He added that he could personally relate to the student and his family’s struggle. “I have an autistic niece and nephew and an autistic cousin I was raised with my whole life,” Frazier said. “I don't like this kind of behavior when it's targeting people with disabilities.” The teen’s mom, Arial Murray, said her son “deserves to be known for his heart, not a traumatic misunderstanding.” “Landon is kind, funny, and a collector of all things Hot Wheels,” she said. “He loves NBA 2K, he takes people very literally, and he sees the world in a gentle and honest way that makes our family better because of it.” In a post on her Facebook page, Arial Murray said her son did not mean to scare anyone and that he just wanted a friend, wanted to be seen and wanted to belong. Since the incident at school, she told The Post and Courier her top priority has been to make sure her son “feels safe, supported, and reminded of who he is outside of this moment.” Frazier said no lawsuit has been filed against the school district or the police department, but added that they would consider one if negligence did occur. No charges have been filed against Murray. The Post and Courier reached out to Dorchester School District Two regarding the incident but did not hear back prior to publication.
