INDIAN HEAD, Md. — School officials have broken their silence after a fight with an older teammate left a 14-year old high school football player with blurred vision and broken bones.
The injured player’s family says it was the end result of a season’s worth of bullying and hazing at Henry Lackey High school, but the principal says that’s not the case.
In a letter to parents, Principal Kathy Perriello of Lackey High School said that before the fight, there had been no complaints about hazing and bullying on the football team.
“We do not have any information that would indicate there is a hazing issue among any students at our school,” a letter to the school community issued in the wake of WUSA9's reporting said.
The hazing allegation was made by the family of Zayden Flemmings, who was badly injured in a fight at the school with a teammate on Oct. 5. Flemmings and his family claim he has endured months of bullying and harassment on the team regarding his weight and appearance, which resulted in confrontations with teammates.
“We didn't send them to school to go get hurt," Flemmings' grandmother, Marlene Flemmings-McCann, said. "We sent him to go play a sport that he loves and to learn and Charles County did nothing for him.”
A new medical report says Flemmings has two broken bones around his eye. A doctor referred him to a facial trauma specialist and ophthalmologist. His mother, Shokitha Flemmings, said her son is still seeing double, five days after the fight.
Perriello's letter confirms a law enforcement investigation is underway, while legal experts are raising questions.
"Proper supervision of the children could have prevented this incident from happening,” Maryland attorney Billy Murphy said.
Murphy said school authorities are obligated by law to call for immediate medical help and to report to law enforcement just as quickly.
“We do not have a record of phone calls from either the coaches or the school for either medical aid or law enforcement," the school system emailed in response to WUSA9's questions about the fight.
Shokitha Flemmings said coaches escorted her son to her car after the fight and did not call for help. In an email exchange, school officials say that’s because she asked them to after she “allegedly made verbal comments to school staff that she was planning to come inside the building to confront the other involved students.”
Meanwhile, a text message to players from a number associated with one assistant coach said, “delete nowww." Shokitha Flemmings said she believes it was an attempt to get players to delete photos and video of the fight and obstruct the investigation.
The coach has not responded to WUSA9’s repeated attempts for a response. School authorities say they didn’t know anything about the text, and have no comment.
Flemmings has not returned to school because his injury prevents him from reading, his mother said.
The Lackey High School football team is expected to take the field in the regional playoffs Friday night. The school system will not say if any disciplinary actions have been taken against any students or staff.
RELATED: Wootton High School football locker room incident was 'attempted rape' with a broom, attorney claims