Police Provide Update on Racial Harassment Incident Involving Smith-Cotton Basketball Players

Police in Lebanon, Missouri say that the incident on January 20 involving alleged racial slurs aimed at Smith-Cotton High School basketball players did not involve students at Lebanon Senior High School.

Administrators from the Sedalia 200 and Lebanon school districts have been working with the Lebanon Police Department to gather information about the incident, which reportedly took place at a McDonald's restaurant in Lebanon.

According to the Lebanon Daily Record, there are several suspects in the case, including six adult men and two adult women, in addition to four student suspects. "The four students that were reported as suspects in this investigation are not students at the Lebanon Senior High, and it is unknown if they are related to any students who attend Lebanon Senior High," said the Lebanon Police Department in a news release.

The Daily Record is reporting that all six adult men were intoxicated at the time of the incident. "A witness told police the adult males made racial slurs and the witness saw one of them brandish a firearm briefly as the Smith-Cotton students were boarding their school bus...The witness said the gun was not pointed at anyone."

The newspaper also says that two Sedalia players are persons of interest in a reported incident that allegedly occurred during the basketball game, which preceded the incident at the McDonald's. Police continue to investigate, and will be looking at surveillance video from Lebanon High School, McDonald's, and the Sedalia school bus.