A fight had been brewing between two girls at Grady High School and was on the verge of erupting in the cafeteria. Willette Barr, one of Grady's school resource officers, and her partner Derrick Hammond, stepped in to intervene. In her rage, one of the girls started swinging at Hammond, an action that in other schools—and almost certainly on the street—would have been met forcefully by the two officers and may have led to the girl's arrest.
Instead, Barr and Hammond stayed calm.