Montreal police are investigating after an altercation at LaSalle Community Comprehensive High School left a 12-year-old with serious injuries to his face.
Kyle Charpentier-McWhirter had to undergo surgery, and his jaw is wired shut.
“He had two breaks to the jaw and a fracture to the chin, along with a majority of his teeth that are shattered and broken,” said his mother Crystal McWhirter.
“He had the jaw wired shut, a metal plate and screw incisions inside the mouth — in the chin.”
The 12-year-old has to undergo another surgery next week.
Charpentier-McWhirter says he thinks another boy choked him, until he fell unconscious.
“He grabbed me right here and told me to stop, so when I turned around he choked me,” he said.
Mother blames high school
McWhirter has many questions for officials at LaSalle Community Comprehensive High School.
She says she's angry there was a one hour delay before getting Kyle to hospital, and she says better supervision could have been prevented such serious injuries.
“Something should have been done before Kyle was actually unconscious. Where was everybody? My son was attacked and he was assaulted in the school. So as far as the school [goes], there needs to be more supervision and surveillance,” McWhirter said.
Proper protocol followed, school officials say
Officials at both the school and the school board say staff did everything right — and an appropriate number of staff monitors were present.
“The hall was monitored by two staff at the time — as is policy. All schools have support staff monitoring. I’m very confident the school had proper supervision in place,” said Suanne Stein Day, the head of the Lester B. Pearson School Board.
“The situation was handled very well. It's never easy when a fight breaks out in the school. It's never easy when a child gets injured, but our administrators are well-trained to deal with it.”
Possible criminal charges
McWhirter, who plans to file a police report, says school officials told her the student involved in the altercation with her son has been suspended indefinitely.
Meanwhile, Montreal police say they are looking into the incident.
They say their investigation could lead to an arrest, and possible assault charges.