A parent of a student arrested said his son was trying to leave the school when he was stopped by an Asst. Principal and slammed by a school resource officer.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Parents of students at Mary Carroll High School told 3NEWS that their children were assaulted during an arrest on Thursday.

Lupe Cruz, the father of a student arrested, said his son was trying to leave the school after being told by staff he was expelled for the day. 

In a video taken by a student and shared with 3NEWS, Lupe said his son can be seen heading towards an exit when he is stopped by staff and detained by a school resource officer. He said his son is then slammed to the ground by the officer.

In the video, students begin to swarm the scene. According to parents, pepper spray was used and several students were exposed. Students can be heard audibly gasping and coughing afterwards.

In another video shared with 3NEWS, a separate student can be seen being wrestling with the same staff member. The staff member, who is an assistant principal at the school according to Cruz, takes the student down with a wrestling maneuver. 

Another parent told 3NEWS children were not allowed to go to the nurse afterwards. 

“My daughter for one has asthma and I went up there when she texted me to pull her out of class cause she said she got pepper sprayed,” the parent said.. “A lot of kids were pepper sprayed and they were locked down. We could not get in — only three at a time to even get our children up to the front to get them out.”

CCISD Police Chief Warnke told 3NEWS that the student was expelled for the day and refusing to leave when he was detained and arrested. Warnke said two students were pepper sprayed. 

3NEWS Reporter Ryan Hopper went to Mary Carroll High School to ask about the situation and was told by an assistant principal that the school has no comment at this time.

Cruz said he was never contacted regarding his son’s expulsion. 

This is a developing story. We will provide updates as more information becomes available.Â