ATLANTA — The fallout from the death of a Florida A&M University drum major broadened Wednesday to nearly two dozen high schools in Georgia, where marching band activities were suspended over concerns of “inappropriate physical activity” between band mates.
A metro Atlanta school district began investigating after Robert Champion died Nov. 19. The Southwest DeKalb High graduate was found unresponsive on a bus parked in front of an Orlando hotel after a university football game, and authorities said his death involved hazing.
Another Florida A&M student, Bria Shante Hunter, who also attended Southwest DeKalb, told police she was severely beaten in a hazing ritual about three weeks before Champion’s death.
Hunter, a freshman and clarinet player, said she was repeatedly hit in her legs by members of the “Red Dawg Order,” a band club for Georgia natives. Authorities have said Champion was hazed, but have not described how.
Three band members were arrested in Hunter’s case and charged with hazing. Two were also charged with battery.
Meanwhile, Florida authorities looking into Champion’s death opened a new investigation after they uncovered possible employee fraud and misconduct at the university, according to documents released Wednesday.
In Georgia, Walter Woods, spokesman for the DeKalb County school district, said they were investigating marching bands at the district’s 21 high schools after two problems over the summer. He declined to say whether the incidences involved hazing and said
