NEWS

YouTube video shows Hunters Lane student assaulting teacher

Jordan Buie
USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

video now circulating on social media site YouTube appears to show a student at Hunters Lane High School in North Nashville assaulting a teacher in the hallway Tuesday.

A screen grab of a video showing an assault on a teacher by a student.

In the video, the student can be seen punching the teacher in the face, knocking the teacher down and then mounting the teacher and continuing to hit the teacher in the head until another teacher pulls the student off.

A second video shows the incident unfold from another angle.

Metro police spokesman Don Aaron confirmed Wednesday afternoon that the incident happened at the school.

Aaron said a 17-year-old student at the high school was arrested Tuesday morning on a charge of aggravated assault and resisting police.

Aaron said that according to witnesses, the 17-year-old assaulted the teacher without provocation.

He said teacher Jason Witt, 24, was on his assigned post redirecting students when the 17-year-old approached him.

"The teacher told him to stop, and the 17-year-old struck him in the face and continued to strike him even after he was down on the floor," Aaron said. "Other persons managed to separate the student from the teacher. While the 17-year-old and the assistant principal and teacher were inside the office, the 17-year-old bolted out of office and ran out of the hallway."

The teen was caught shortly afterward and arrested, Aaron said. The incident happened around 10:45 a.m. Tuesday.

"The video seems to have documented the assault on Mr. Witt," Aaron said.

Metro Public Schools spokesman Joe Bass later confirmed the videos depict the incident at the high school.

He released a statement on the incident Wednesday.

"There was an incident on Tuesday of this week at Hunters Lane High School involving an assault on a teacher," the statement said. "The student involved was disciplined appropriately, though Federal privacy laws bar us from publicly stating what that discipline was. Response from school staff was swift, with another faculty member intervening very quickly. The School Resource Officer and other Metro police officers were involved, and we thank them for their assistance. We take the safety of our students and staff very seriously, and violence against employees, no matter who is the perpetrator, will not be tolerated in any way."

Bass also said that Hunters Lane, one of the largest schools in the district, has had the most assault-on-teacher incidents in the district this school year, with eight of 54. He said assault-on-teacher incidents can include a student putting hands on a staff member, grabbing a teacher or hitting a teacher.

Reporter Jason Gonzales contributed to this reporter.

Reporter Jordan Buie can be reached at 615-726-5970 or on Twitter @jordanbuie.