In a startling event in Chester, South Carolina, a 20-year-old man is now in custody following a series of alarming actions that disrupted what should have been a typical school day. Authorities report that the suspect, identified as D’arrius Tyrese Edwards, used his head to break through a school window, entered a classroom, and seized a child.

Chester County Sheriff Max Dorsey expressed his disbelief over the incident. “In my 30 years of law enforcement, I could have never imagined something like this would be happening on Halloween in our wonderful town in a secure facility,” he remarked, reflecting the shock that gripped the community following the lockdown of the Chester Park School Complex on that fateful Friday afternoon.

The chaotic sequence began when Edwards crashed his car into a cluster of trees near the school premises. From there, he proceeded to the playground area, where his unconventional entry through a double-pane glass window set off a chain of unsettling events.

“They made entry through a glass window using their head,” Sheriff Dorsey recounted, detailing how Edwards took a child before law enforcement confronted him on the playground. In response to concerns, officials reassured the public that the school’s windows, designed to be double-paned for added protection, met standard security measures.

Officials said the school’s windows are standard, double-pane windows. Leaders assured the school was as secure as possible.

“Once they entered the classroom, there were three adult teachers in the classroom, and they engaged with the individual. One of the teachers actually fought with that person, but that person was able to leave the room, entered the playground area, which is still a confined space,” Dorsey said. 

The suspect was tased and taken into custody, and the child was found to be in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries.

Sheriff Dorsey declined to comment on whether mental health issues played a part in the incident, saying it was still too early to tell.

He confirmed there was a domestic element, and it expanded to the school, but Dorsey wasn’t ready to determine motive. The sheriff said that Edwards did not know the child or anyone in the classroom.

Edwards was charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, burglary, and kidnapping.

School officials, meanwhile, were set to undergo a debrief as is common practice after a major school event.

“With our debrief and with everything, you always look at new modern techniques. But right now, I’m just so proud of my teachers, of my paraprofessionals, of my students, of the community that has come forward. And I honestly couldn’t have changed anything that they did. I’m just really, really proud of them today,” said Chester County school district interim superintendent Tammy Snipes.