ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Ala. (WKRG) - A high school teacher and football coach in Atmore was at the center of an ongoing investigation dating back to June 16, 2021 before he was killed earlier this week, WKRG News 5 learned Wednesday.
On Thursday WKRG News 5’s Blake Brown spoke with law enforcement about the case.
“We received a call from Escambia County High School back in June about an allegation that had been made of sexual misconduct between a teacher and a student,” said Escambia County Sheriff Heath Jackson.
That teacher identified by Sheriff Heath Jackson as Kasuan Bullard. Jackson says a student claims Bullard raped her on campus.
“We started doing interviews, trying to collect certain pieces of evidence and things of that nature. During the course of that we felt we had probably cause enough to apply for a warrant,” he said.
Sheriff Jackson was ready to issue warrants Monday morning for rape and sexual misconduct, but that same morning Bullard was killed in a crash on the Cochrane Causeway.
“You are innocent until proven guilty. We have questions to make sure that it actually was an accident and that it wasn’t something self-inflicted because of the charges that were coming down,” Sheriff Jackson continued.
Escambia County Schools Superintendent John Knott sent a statement to WKRG News 5 Wednesday afternoon.
“First, thanks for your condolences on the loss of our teacher. We did have an active investigation ongoing. Other than that, I can not comment on an open investigation. Our school system is following all policies and procedures in connection with this matter,” Knott said.
Sheriff Jackson said his office takes allegations like this seriously.
“We want to make sure that if we’re putting a warrant out for somebody’s arrest that we’re doing our due diligence to make sure that we have enough to a courtroom with it,” he added.
Jackson tells WKRG News 5 the case is now closed and the student will receive counseling for the alleged incident.
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