Footage of a Dec. 6 incident at Greenwood High School in which a Greenwood police officer drew his service handgun on a student is drawing regional and national attention.
The student, 18-year-old James Marshall, and his attorney have been approached to appear on national television programs such as "Inside Edition."
Ben Watson, a reporter with WMC-TV in Memphis, aired a report on the station's 10 p.m. report Monday that featured security camera footage showing a scuffle between Marshall and officer Casey Wiggins, 26.
And in Mississippi the state's largest newspaper, The Clarion-Ledger, has featured stills from the footage on its front page and the video on its Web site.
In the footage, Wiggins draws his pistol twice on Marshall, once in the school's teacher lounge and again in a hallway in close proximity to other students.
The footage also shows Wiggins using what appears to be a choke hold on Marshall before being led out of camera range.
Marshall was never charged with a crime.
He and his mother, Jacqueline Blackshire, filed a criminal complaint against Wiggins on Dec. 7.
The incident has lead to Marshall filing a $1 million lawsuit in Leflore County Circuit Court naming Wiggins, Police Chief Henry Harris and the city of Greenwood as defendants.
Watson said the case is noteworthy because footage of it actually exists. "It's one of those rare situations where we actually have video of an incident as it is happening," he said.
"You can see the individuals that are involved. What catches the attention is the officer," he said.
Watson said the video helps people draw their own conclusions about what took place. "Often, we read about these situations. Here, we can see it unfold."
Marshall's attorney, Carlos Moore of Grenada, said the footage, which was supplied to him by the Greenwood School District as part of the civil litigation process, is drawing national attention as well.
"'Good Morning America' declined at this time. The "CBS Early Show" wants to do a segment on the situation either Thursday or Friday of this week," Moore said.
He said he and Marshall will likely travel to New York for the show.
In addition, representatives of the television news show "Inside Edition" are interested in doing a segment on the incident, Moore said.
