The officer, identified as Ruben De Los Santos by the local News and Observer newspaper, can be seen in the video grabbing the girl, a student at Rolesville High School, around the chest and abdomen and lifting her off the ground and then slamming her to the ground.
The officer then hoists the girl and walks her through a crowd of students while pinning her arms behind her back.
Lisa Luten, a spokeswoman for the Wake County Public School System, said the officer was responding to a fight between two girls and the girl who was slammed to the floor had tried to intervene. Luten did not identify the officer.
“We’re in the process right now of working with the Rolesville Police Department to gather all the details around the incident to ensure that we take appropriate action,” Luten said.
Further details were not immediately available. Police could not be reached for comment.
Rolesville Mayor Frank Eagles said the officer was placed on administrative leave, local broadcaster WTVD reported. Eagles said the officer had been assigned to the high school since 2013.
The incident comes amid heightened scrutiny of the use of force by police against people of color due to numerous high-profile killings and assaults of African-Americans by law enforcement across the United States over the last two years.
The video angered many on social media.
“Very disturbing video. Students should never be treated this way,” the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina said in a tweet.
Desiree Harrison, who identified herself as the mother of the girl, Jasmine Darwin, told local broadcaster WRAL she was shocked by the video. “When I’m looking at this video, I’m like ‘Oh my god, this cannot be happening to my child,'” she said.
A video published online by WTVD shows two girls in a fist fight before being separated and then pans to show the officer slamming the other girl to the floor.