August Borden suffered a skull fracture and severe concussion, resulting in hospitalization and a slow recovery process.
Borden's family expressed dissatisfaction with the school district's public statement regarding the incident.
The Tuscumbia Police Department, which has been investigating the case of an injured Deshler High School teen for two weeks, announced Thursday it has transferred the case over to the Franklin County Juvenile Probation Office.
This update comes as one of the school's聽football players, August Borden, is on a slow but promising path to recovery after sustaining a聽severe skull fracture and concussion.
The juvenile probation office, now handling the investigation, is receiving assistance from the Madison County District Attorney's Office.
Police say all of the subjects and witnesses, with exception of the coaches, are all under the age of 18, so that is where the case will have jurisdiction.
Earlier Thursday, Borden's father, Drew Van Devender, shared that August continues to experience headaches, blurred vision, and has lost nearly 10 pounds since the incident.
August Borden (Source: Family)
"He's exhausted. He sleeps like 75 percent of the day," Van Devender said.
Borden's family expressed frustration over the lack of information provided by the school regarding the incident.
Van Devender said, "We ask him daily if he remembers the incident just so we can get some information from him, but he can't recall anything."
Tuscumbia City Schools released the following statement to parents acknowledging public concern and detailing the events following Borden's injury:
鈥淧arents and Stakeholders,
"Tuscumbia City Schools understands that there have been many questions regarding the unfortunate incident that took place last Tuesday. While we are limited in what we can share at this point due to federal privacy laws and an ongoing investigation by the Tuscumbia Police Department, I am aware of the widespread public attention and will share what I can.
"According to supervising coaches, all players were walking from the weight room to the locker room after working out on August 19. A coach was in the locker room to open the door and ensure supervision of the players when they walked in the locker room. All the other players and coaches were walking back with coaches intermingled with the players. When the incident happened, there were employees supervising the students.
"Employees at the scene immediately called 911 and implemented the Emergency Action Plan for Athletics. The first course of action was to ensure that the student was taken care of medically. The聽911 Center advised the coaches to begin CPR. At no time was a pulse lost and the ambulance arrived approximately five minutes after the call came to them. After the student was stabilized, Tuscumbia City Schools began calling the parents of the student. Again, our first priority is to ensure the student's immediate medical needs are attended to, even prior to calling a parent.
"While Tuscumbia City Schools does utilize security cameras, unfortunately, there are no cameras in this specific location as it is located over 100 yards from any entrance area to the school.聽After the incident occurred, we immediately began launching an investigation which included interviewing all known witnesses the following day.
"Due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, we are unable to discuss the results of our internal investigation, which has now been turned over to the Tuscumbia Police Department, who will continue conducting the investigation into this incident. We are cooperating with them in the investigation. We ask for the public's patience as the authorities learn more about what happened last Tuesday, and we ask that the public refrain from personal attacks on students, faculty, or staff as everyone is focused on understanding what happened.
"This situation has been incredibly difficult on the entire TCS community-especially our students and our employees. We are providing counseling for any student or employee who may need the additional support.鈥
Borden's family expressed displeasure with school leaders' lack of transparency.
鈥淔rom some of the information I鈥檓 getting, like the letter that was released, it seems like they have conflicted what they鈥檝e told me,鈥 Van Devender said.
Van Devender says their family remains anxious for answers as the investigation continues.聽
Despite the uncertainties, Borden's family remains hopeful about his recovery.
"With a hit to the head of that magnitude, who knows what the long-term effects are," Van Devender said. "We're uncertain about the longevity of his recovery, but we are very hopeful."
AI assisted with the formatting of this story. Click here to see how WAAY uses AI.
August Borden (Source: Family)
