Pa. girl, 16, accused of dousing school security guard with gasoline faces

In an interview with KDKA-TV, Officer Murray said the girl began banging on doors before she threw the liquid on in his face. The entire high school had to be evacuated because of the fumes.

After being denied entrance into school on Monday, a Pennsylvania high school student doused a school security guard in gasoline and then poured the remaining fuel onto the floor of the building, police and school officials said.

He’s calling for tighter school security as a result of the incident.

Murray had escorted her from school Friday for using her cellphone, but Knight-Brantley returned for an after-school food program. However, regardless of her suspension, she attempted to gain entry into the school on Monday.

She had no legal representation at the time of her arrest and was only accompanied by her grandmother. She claims he grabbed her by the neck, put her in a headlock and threatened to bite her.

“It was thrown in my face, it got into my mouth, it’s on my clothes”, said Murray.

Knight-Brantley carried a 2-liter soda bottle filled with gasoline and the lighter in her hooded sweatshirt before attacking the guards, Brandon Murray and Leah Pyle, on Monday morning, Wilkinsburg police said in a criminal complaint.

The array of charges the police have come up with range from aggravated assault and reckless endangerment to such crimes as risking a catastrophe and bringing a weapon to school. “That was enough that I really wanted to go hands-on with her. But the fact is, I don’t want to lose my job, so she was restrained the way she was supposed to be restrained”, he said.

She has been ordered to have no contact with the security guard or the school and must see a behavioral specialist.

District Judge Jim Motznik set the girl’s bond at $100,000.