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Written by: E. George
Published December 6, 2024 @ 3:10 PM ET
PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. – Authorities arrested an Acworth man on October 16, 2024, after an incident on September 12, 2024, in which he boarded a school bus near the intersection of Creekwater Drive and Branchwater Court. Paulding County Sheriff’s deputies reviewed security footage and witnessed what had transpired.
The video displayed the suspect, identified as Christopher Jamel Smith, entering the bus and yelling at a juvenile student. Smith could be heard on the audio saying, “You gonna catch all that smoke you lookin’ for.”
The report indicated that Smith yelled at the child about making racist remarks and accused him of being racist. He also warned if his parents became involved, “they can pull up on me.”
Smith was accompanied by an unknown Black male, later identified as “Scoop” by a witness. Scoop had short black hair and appeared to be in his late thirties.
After Smith yelled at the child and exited the bus, he walked over to where the boy was seated and banged on the window. Smith yelled something, but the comments were inaudible due to background noise.
Smith faces charges of disruption of public schools, failure to appear, and misdemeanor disorderly conduct – using fighting words.
Officer’s Narrative:
[Please note: The following is a direct transcription from the official initial incident report. The Georgia Gazette does not fix any spelling or grammatical errors that may exist. Any changes or redactions made by our staff are placed inside brackets. Some errors may exist. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The topics discussed may be sensitive to some readers. Discretion is advised.]
On Friday, September 13, 2024, at 0730 hours, I, Deputy Owens #1377, was made aware of an incident that occurred at Creekwater Dr and Branchwater Ct during bus drop off on Thursday, September 12, 2024, between 1615 hours and 1620 hours.
At Creekwater Dr. and Branchwater Ct., while students were exiting bus number 294, two (2) adult males entered the school bus. The first adult male, identified as Mr. Christopher Jamel Smith, began yelling at a juvenile student and accusing the juvenile student of being racist and making racist remarks on the bus. Mr. Smith can be heard saying to the juvenile “you gonna catch all that smoke you lookin’ for”. Mr. Smith can also be heard saying to the juvenile that if his parents get involved they can “pull up on me”.
Mr. Smith then exits the bus and walks back to the approximate area where the juvenile is seated. Mr. Smith then bangs on the bus window and yells something at the juvenile, but it is unclear what was said by Mr. Smith due to other noise that occurred on the bus.
Mr. Smith was identified by his stepson, [REDACTED] Middle School student, [REDACTED].
The second adult male on the video that entered the school bus stays on the bottom step of the bus during the entire video. He appears to be a black male, approximately in his late thirties with short black hair. According to bus rider juvenile [REDACTED], he goes by the name “Scoop” and is a friend of Mr. Smith. There is no further information regarding “Scoop”.
I have submitted a request for a copy of the bus video through the Paulding County School District Safety Helpdesk. The request ID number is 76890325.
Warrants will be taken out for Mr. Smith for the Disruption of Public Schools, OCGA 20-2-1181, and Disorderly Conduct, OCGA 16-11-39.
This case is being marked PENDING ARREST.
[End of Narrative]