Video Shows Man On Knees Begging Girl After Altercation At Cheyenne School

CHEYENNE — A video of a man on his knees telling a female junior high school student that he was wrong after a physical altercation that appears to have left the girl bleeding has upset parents in Laramie County.

In the video, the man can be seen on his knees with his arms stretched out speaking directly to the student. 

“I did something very wrong,” he tells the girl.

The short video appears to have been taken by another student outside McCormick Junior High School in north Cheyenne last week.

The man in the video can be seen with credentials on a lanyard around his neck — similar to ones worn by school employees, but it’s not known if he works at McCormick. 

The video shows him pursuing the female student before a confrontation occurs. Footage does not show what happens next, but screams from a student follows. 

The video then shows the man get down on his knees, begging the girl he had confronted for her name.

“OK, I need to know your name so I can report on myself,” the man tells the girl at one point after their altercation, on his knees in front of her while other students look on.

“You want to report you grabbing me by the shoulder and grabbing me by my hair and dragging me and making me bleed!? You want to report yourself?” the girl responds.

Thomas Conrad, a parent of students enrolled in Laramie County School District No. 1, said he was stunned by the video. He and other parents have demanded answers from school officials, but he said he has received no response.

“I do not take kindly to cover-ups,” Conrad said, adding that after a military career he also served in federal law enforcement. “There’s a possibility a (physical) assault occurred here.”

It’s not known if the male is a teacher at the school or an employee of the school district. A school official told Cowboy State Daily he cannot comment on “personnel matters.” 

Not much is known about the student who appeared to have been hurt, either. They are among questions Conrad and other parents say have gone unanswered.

A simple email to parents telling them there was an incident between someone affiliated with the school and a student — and that the school is handling it — would go a long way, said Conrad.

Edward Langan agrees.

As a parent of a McCormick student, he said he doesn’t know the adult male in the video, but that the interaction with the girl “is real, and it’s disturbing.”

“Why is a teacher touching a female student in the first place?” he asked. “Where was the school resource officer? There’s also another adult there — just standing there doing nothing.

“The school hasn’t reached out to us, or anyone else that we know of,” Langan added. “They’ll text you all day long about grades, but for something like this you’d think they’d send something out.”

What The Video Shows

The confrontation and video has been reported to the Cheyenne Police Department, which is investigating, Public Information Officer Alexandra Farkas-Schulz told Cowboy State Daily in an email.

“The incident was reported to the Cheyenne Police Department and is now being investigated by the school’s assigned school resource officer,” she said. “The SRO has been gathering information to further understand the events that took place.”

Because the investigation is active, “I am limited in the information I can share at this time,” she added.

The 1-minute, 30-second video starts just a few seconds before the altercation happens, which is just off-screen. 

A girl screams, then the camera swings toward the outburst while other students rush to the altercation, which was about 20 feet away outside the school.

At the same time, someone in the background is exclaiming, “no, no, no.” 

A couple of students get between the man and another female student, there’s a cut, then the student who was allegedly physically grabbed shows the camera a mark on her shoulder.

“I’m bleeding because of you,” she says, swinging around to look at the teacher.

“Can I please have your name,” the teacher asks the girl.

“No!” she says. “Look what you did!”

“I know. Can I please, can I please … no, so listen,” the man continues as he gets down on his knees on the sidewalk in front of the student.

“I’m on my knees right now. Come here, please,” he says, gesturing with his hands for her to get closer. 

“No!” she repeats.

“OK, I need to know your name so I can report on myself,” the man says.

“You want to report you grabbing me by the shoulder and grabbing me by my hair and dragging me and making me bleed!? You want to report yourself?”

While the girl is saying that, the man is begging the student.

“Yes, yes, I do. Listen, listen, I did something wrong. I did something very wrong,” he said, repeating that last statement. “I did something very wrong, OK? I did you very wrong.”

“I’m calling the cops,” a female voice off camera says.

He continues, again stating that “I did something very wrong” while looking at other students who had gathered around.

Another student agrees, saying, “I seen it, I seen it.”

“I just want to know what her name is so that I can … I’m reporting on myself,” the man says.

That’s where the video ends.

‘No Comment’

McCormick Junior High Principal Jeff Hatcliff told Cowboy State Daily on Monday afternoon that he’s aware of the incident that happened at the school, but declined to comment because it’s “a personnel matter.”

He also referred further questions to the school district’s community relations department.

A call to LCSD1 Superintendent Stephen Newton’s office was forwarded to district Community Relations Director Mary Quast when informed that the inquiry was about the McCormick Junior High video. 

In a text message, Quast said that “the district has no comment.”

Because there hasn’t been at least an acknowledgement from school officials that something happened, “That’s why a lot of people are concerned,” Conrad said, adding that’s also why he keeps posting the video to Cheyenne social media pages.

“Why is it the school deemed it necessary to keep that hush-hush?” he said. “I want to post it as many times as possible, because people need to know.”

Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.