Police investigating Carmel High School bullying incident

CARMEL, Ind. (WISH) - A case of bullying at Carmel High School is now a criminal investigation.

I-Team 8 broke the story when three senior basketball players were suspended for five days for allegedly bullying two freshmen on a bus coming back from an away game January 22 .

Just last week, both Carmel High School Principal John Williams and Carmel Police said the case would not rise to criminal charges.

"I'm still pretty confident with what happened on that bus and our knowledge of what took place on the bus. If things changed, it may involve other things than just that incident on that bus," said Williams.

Williams denies claims that parents had called the school complaining earlier in the year about the ongoing bullying.

Schools are required by Indiana law to have a policy designed to stop bullying.

Williams acknowledged there were coaches on the bus at the time of the alleged incident.

"(The coaches) heard a noise and talked to the students about being quiet and they were quiet the rest of the way home," said Williams.

Monday night, at the Carmel school board meeting, there was no public comment on the now criminal investigation. But board members spoke along with the superintendant.

Carmel Superintendent Jeff Swensson said, "We follow the evidence. Whatever the evidence reveals that’s what we want to deal with."

"It's a policy that needs to be enforced. Zero tolerance...that's as simple as it is," said Paul Calabrese of the Carmel School Board.

The three players did not play in last Friday's basketball game.

I-Team 8 has requested the video from the bus that night. There has been no firm answer regarding the tape but I-Team 8 was told it may not exist, since the incident happened three weeks before it came to light.

One school board member said Monday night he believes the players have been suspended from playing basketball for the rest of the year. However, I-Team 8 could not confirm it.

Also, a parent of one of the senior boys accused says there is another side to the story but the parent couldn't go into detail yet.