Seminole County Schools Investigate Video of Guard Striking Student with Golf Cart

A social-media video that circulated after a Feb. 17 altercation at Millwee Middle School in Longwood appears to show a school security guard driving a golf cart into student Marwan Taylor as a fight was beginning on the school field. Seminole County Public Schools confirmed it is investigating the footage and notified child welfare authorities while the Seminole County Sheriff's Office conducted an initial review.

Taylor, who is identified in the video and by his family, described the sequence of events in a statement to a local outlet: "This kid, he was talking trash about me. So I asked him if he wanted to fight. As we were about to fight, we're in the middle of the field, and he was pushing me backwards. And the security guard came super-fast with his cart and hit me." Taylor said he was able to get up after being struck but that his leg "started hurting badly afterwards."

Taylor's mother, Jodashia Smith, reviewed the circulating video and expressed upset, saying she felt the guard did not try to prevent hitting her son. Neither the security guard nor Millwee Middle School staff have provided on-the-record comments in the materials reviewed for this report, and no medical records or hospital treatment details for Taylor have been released publicly.

The Seminole County Sheriff's Office participated in the initial investigation and determined there was no criminal wrongdoing in the incident, and no charges have been reported. Seminole County Public Schools reported the episode to the Florida Department of Children and Families; DCF was notified and, according to available information, declined to take the case. The district has said its internal review is ongoing.

Reports do not identify the security guard by name, employment status, or whether any administrative action has been taken. The available video is the primary piece of evidence cited by family members and the district; sources describe the contact as occurring at or around the time Taylor and another student were about to engage in a fight on the school's field. The original summary of the incident used the spelling "Milwee Middle School," while other accounts and quoted material use "Millwee Middle School"; this article uses the Millwee spelling consistent with the quoted material.

Seminole County Public Schools continues its internal investigation into the Feb. 17 incident, and parents, school officials, and local law enforcement await the district's findings and any subsequent administrative steps regarding the unnamed security guard.