Ohio School Resource Officer Placed on Leave for Using Taser to Wake Up Sleeping Student

A school resource officer from Ohio was placed on administrative leave for using a stun gun on a sleeping student, school officials said.

Maryssa Boskoski, 32, was a part-time resource officer assigned to Liberty Preparatory School in Smithville, Ohio, for the year, WEWS reported. A male student, who is a junior at the school, would not wake up for his teacher or Interim Principal Jenna Parnell on August 30, according to the news station.

Boskoski arrived at the classroom with Parnell and activated the Taser a few feet away from the teen, WEWS reported. The Taser did not touch the student, but the sparks from the Taser alarmed other teens in the classroom and woke up the sleeping student. The school announced Boskoski was placed on administrative leave on Wednesday.

"She did take her Taser, remove the cartridge from it, and arced the Taser," said Smithville Police Chief Howard Funk.

Parnell told the news station that she was shocked the officer would use the Taser to scare the student. She claimed the resource officer did not tell anyone or give a warning that she was going to deploy her Taser, WEWS reported.

"I was a little surprised by it," Parnell said. "Our interest is in the safety of our students so hearing that go off was a little alarming."

Parnell told The Columbus Dispatch that the student had fallen asleep during study hall, and the teacher had first woken him up but he fell back asleep. She said Boskoski was 4 or 5 feet away from the student when she turned on her Taser and that Parnell thought it was a joke at first.

"It was just an attempt to wake him up. [Boskoski] just pulled [the Taser] out and pushed the button to make the sound," Parnell told the publication."It was not anything malicious."

Newsweek obtained the letter parents of the students at Liberty Preparatory School received following the incident. The school stated they were cooperating with authorities and take priority in the safety of their students.

"At no time was any student in any kind of danger," the statement said. "We want to assure all of our students, parents/guardians, and the community, that we take the safety and security of our Liberty Prep family seriously, and give it our highest priority."

A similar incident occurred in Cincinnati in August when a police officer used his Taser on an 11-year-old girl accused of shoplifting at a Kroger Supermarket in Ohio. Police told KPRC that Officer Kevin Brown confronted the 11-year-old girl and her two friends for allegedly stealing more than $50 in food and clothing. He deployed his Taser when the girl resisted arrest, according to KPRC.