SRO hit by car while directing school traffic in Whitfield County

WHITFIELD COUNTY, Ga. (WDEF) — A Whitfield County school resource officer was hit by a car while directing traffic.

It happened just before 8 Tuesday morning at Westside Middle School. The Whitfield County Sheriff says his SRO was not seriously hurt.

“He was transferred to Erlanger just for additional observation and we received word, confirmation that at this point he does have a broken fibula. Bumps and bruises, but I think overall he is going to be fine,” Sheriff Scott Chitwood said.

Georgia State Patrol is looking into this incident. According to investigators, the driver stayed at the scene and was issued a citation.

Recently in Hamilton County there were cases where cars crashed into school buses.

In one incident, several students were taken to the hospital.

As for the Sheriff, he says it’s the first time something like this has happened to one of his deputies.

He wants this to serve as a reminder for drivers to pay attention in school zones.

“I would think that every law enforcement agency has reminded everybody with the start of school, I think every news channel has reminded drivers, school is approaching school zone incidents and school zones and stuff. You can’t teach common sense, but unfortunately it is a very freak accident and we suffered a low injury this morning.”

Administrators with Whitfield County Schools also stressed the importance of  being alert.

“School zones are posted for a reason. One thing the motoring public can do every single day to protect student safety is to drive cautiously, especially in school zones and around stopped school buses. All it takes is a moment of distracted driving or driving too fast for an accident to happen,” said Dr. Mike Ewton, Assistant Superintendent for Operations and Student Services.

Investigators say the SRO was wearing a reflective vest.