North Texas teen stripped, shot with pellet gun in hazing incident, parents say
The father of a football player at Flower Mound’s Marcus High School is demanding accountability after he says his son was injured during a hazing ritual in October.
Doug, who asked to be identified only by his first name, told the Star-Telegram that his son, a junior, had recently been promoted to the school’s varsity team.
After a dinner at the home of a teammate in Double Oak on Oct. 22, senior team members stripped the teen naked and shot him multiple times with a pellet gun, according to his family. The incident was captured on video by another teammate in the room, Doug said.
The teen did not tell his parents about the incident for a few days afterward because he feared what would happen if he came forward, Doug said. Eventually, the teen’s girlfriend sent an email containing video of the incident to the coach and school athletic director.
After police took a statement from the teen, Doug said he “knew it was going to be rough right away.”
“The boys were back in the locker room the next day,” Doug said. “They didn’t suspend them from the football team ... until they started getting more information.”
A Lewisville ISD investigation found that the incident met the definitions of bullying and hazing, and “appropriate disciplinary consequences were issued in accordance with the LISD Student Code of Conduct and LISD Extracurricular Code of Conduct,” according to documents shared with the Star-Telegram. The letter that the district sent to football team parents did not specify what disciplinary action the students involved faced.
The investigation found no “culture of hazing within the entire Marcus High School Varsity Program,” but did find a history of hazing among the program’s offensive line, the documents state.
During that investigation, 13 other parents came forward to voice concerns about issues including hazing, according to the documents. The investigation also included more than 70 student interviews, 20 staff interviews, searches of staff members’ emails and a review of SportsYou app messages between students and staff.
As a result of the district investigation, the school will implement anti-hazing measures and increase supervision in the football locker rooms, and the district will update its extracurricular code of conduct, according to the documents.
A law enforcement investigation is underway, according to emails shared with the Star-Telegram. No criminal charges have been filed.
“Because this is an ongoing investigation involving juveniles, we have no information that we can release at this time,” Double Oak police told KXAS-TV.
For weeks, Doug and the teen’s mother have been meeting and exchanging emails with both school and law enforcement officials, but the parents feel they are making no progress, the father said.
Since the incident, the teen has been attending trauma therapy sessions and is doing much better, his father said. The teen was kept home for a couple of days this week after the story made the news, but returned to widespread support from the student body.
“75% of the kids are excited that he did this,” Doug said. “The thing that we’re trying to prove here is systemic hazing, systemic assault.”
