4 minors charged, 1 mother arrested after 2 'purely coincidental' altercations occur at Sumter schools, sheriff says

Sumter deputies responded to two unrelated school fights that occurred within minutes of each other on Friday morning.

At 9:17 a.m. on Nov. 22, a Sumter County Sheriff’s Office school resource officer at R.E. Davis College Preparatory Academy radioed about a fight in progress and requested assistance. According to Mark Bordeaux, public information officer for the sheriff’s office, the altercation occurred when a minor and the minor's mother, 36-year-old Nessia Gibson, assaulted another student. Neither Gibson nor her children had permission to be in the area of the school where the assault took place, Bordeaux said.

At 9:22 a.m., more than 13 miles away, administrators at Lakewood High School reported multiple assaults. A 17-year-old student allegedly assaulted two other students, and when the SRO attempted to make an arrest, the 17-year-old hit and wounded the officer,  Bordeaux said.

Gibson was charged with third-degree assault and battery and disturbing schools and taken to Sumter County Sheriff’s Office Detention Center, where she awaits a bond hearing, Bordeaux said. Both of Gibson’s children were charged; one was charged with assault and another was charged with public disorderly conduct, Bordeaux. They both were detained and released to a relative and will be petitioned to Family Court.

In the Lakewood altercation, the 17-year-old accused of assaulting the deputy was charged with two counts of third-degree assault and battery, first-degree assault and battery, resisting arrest and assault on a police officer, according to Bordeaux. The 17-year-old was taken to Department of Juvenile Justice and has been petitioned to Family Court.

Another minor involved in the Lakewood altercation was charged with assault, Bordeaux added.

The wounded deputy was treated at Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital and released, Bordeaux said, and is expected to make a full recovery.

“Schools must be safe places for our children to learn. To ensure this, we have school resource officers assigned to each school, and those juveniles and parents who cause disturbances will be held accountable,” said Sheriff Anthony Dennis.

Dennis said these incidents were isolated and unrelated and that they occurred within minutes of each other was “purely coincidental.”  He commended the response of deputies and their work in resolving the incidents.