A male student repeatedly kicked a teaching assistant in the head for confiscating his Nintendo Switch, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. — Photo by Jesper Brouwers on Unsplash
A woman working at a North Florida high school was knocked unconscious and repeatedly kicked in the head for confiscating a student’s Nintendo Switch, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
She ended up in a hospital and the 17-year-old student ended up in handcuffs, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
It happened Tuesday, Feb 21, at Matanzas High School in Palm Coast, about 60 miles south of Jacksonville.
Deputies arrived at the school about 10.15am to find the teaching assistant “on the ground with severe injuries after an unprovoked attack by a male student”.
“The student stated that he was upset because the victim took his Nintendo Switch away from him during class,” the sheriff’s office reported.
“On surveillance footage .... the student who is approximately (6 feet, 6 inches tall) and 270 pounds, is shown walking fast toward the victim and pushing the victim several feet, knocking her to the school floor, which knocked her unconscious. The student is then shown kicking and punching the unconscious victim several times in the back and head.”
Witnesses rushed to help the woman who remained unconscious “and unable to protect herself” during the attack, the sheriff’s office said.
Her identity and condition have not been released.
Video released by the sheriff’s office shows the student cursed officers, said he had “more important things to do” than go to jail and complained of being manhandled after being put in handcuffs. He is charged with felony aggravated battery with bodily harm, officials said.
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly called the assault “horrendous and completely uncalled for.”
“We hope the victim will be able to recover, both mentally and physically, from this incident,” he said in the news release.
“Thankfully, students and staff members came to the victim’s aid before the (school resource deputies) could arrive.”
The injured adult serves as a paraprofessional, a role that has adults working with a licensed teacher to “tutor students or assist the teacher with managing the classroom and organising instructional materials”. – The Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service
