A 17-year-old high school student was arrested following an altercation at Poplar Bluff High School on Thursday afternoon.
According to Capt. Dave Sutton with the Poplar Bluff Police Department, two male students allegedly got into a fight where school staff and Student Resource Officer Rich Knapp intervened to separate the two.
When the one student allegedly refused to disengage, he was "drive stunned."
A drive stun is when a taser is held against the subject without firing the projectiles, Sutton said, and is intended to cause momentarily pain without incapacitating the subject to gain control.
According to Sutton, Ronny Conner was taken into custody on suspicion of affray and later released, while the second student was a juvenile.
"A taser is one of the few tools available to us if someone is resisting efforts to restrain without injury," Sutton said.
Pepper spray cannot be used inside a school building, Sutton said, due to the contained area causing discomfort to everyone around.
A standing rule at the school, Sutton added, is "when a student doesn't stop when they are told, they are taken into custody and referred to juvenile or taken to the station."
Superintendent Dr. Scott Dill said there are logical and significant repercussions involved in fighting whether it be at school or outside.
"The repercussions increase when school officials or law enforcement are working to try to stop, and the person refuses," he said. "The consequences go up significantly."
While Dill said it is never OK to fight, when a student is told to stop, he or she must stop.
School should be a safe place to accomplish the primary purpose of teaching students, he said, and fighting is disruptive to everyone in the school setting.
"We will punish appropriately every time," he said.