A 14-year-old high school student from Detroit was caught on camera Thursday allegedly assaulting a 63-year-old substitute teacher, according to cell phone video of the incident.
The video shows a student punching and kicking the teacher to the ground at 10:45 a.m. on Thursday during a math class at Cody High School, located on Detroit’s west side.
“I was doing my work, and I just looked up, and she was on the floor shaking and stuff,” student Keiontay Nelson told Fox 2 Detroit as he recalled the attack during class. “Like her head was messed up.”
Nelson, along with fellow students Brandon Antisdel and John O’Neal, sprung into action to subdue the 14-year-old after witnessing the beatdown unfold.
“My friend Keiontay and my man John, we all felt offended by it because that’s somebody’s grandmother,” Antisdel said. “So he ran out and we chased him down.”
The boy’s father, who only identified himself in reports as Theo G., said the teacher “snitched” on his son for alleged marijuana possession.
“Somebody told me they should have just hold him, subdued him, but you never know what happens, you can’t tell what’s going to happen in that situation,” the father of the 14-year-old attacker told WXYZ News. “Like I said, he was high.”
The 14-year-old faces several charges, including aggravated assault, and is being held at Wayne County Juvenile Detention Facility. The 63-year-old teacher was taken to the hospital but has been discharged and is recuperating at her home.
The Detroit Public Schools Community District said in a statement that it is “terribly disappointed” that a student would attack a teacher in this way, adding that it is unlikely the student would return to classes at the high school anytime soon.