ARMED POLICE STORM SCHOOL IN DRUGS RAID

Armed police stormed a high school and ordered children to the floor
at gunpoint so they could conduct a drugs search, it emerged today,

Officers ran into the South Carolina school, screaming at pupils to
lie face down, before rifling through their bags.

Students who did not do as they were told were handcuffed.

Parents were outraged at the raid, but principal George McCrackin said
he would "utilise whatever forces that I deem necessary" to keep drugs
out of the school.

Stratford High School in Goose Creek has 2,700 pupils but does not
have a reputation for drugs or crime.

During the raid a sniffer dog found traces of substances in 12 bags,
but no drugs were recovered.

Parent Latonia Simmons called the incident "senseless".

"Now why did they have to take all that force?" she told
CNN.

"They were innocent kids. They were just minding their own business,
getting ready for class."

But Mr McCrackin denied the raid was an over-reaction.

He said: "I'm sure it was an inconvenience to those individuals who
were on that hallway. But I think there's a valuable experience there."

Police said CCTV footage inside the hall led them to believe there had
been "drugs activity".

A spokesman added that although some officers had drawn their weapons
they were "not pointing at the faces or heads of the students".