A teacher at Largo High School has been arrested after a fight with a student that the chief of police called “very, very disturbing” and the schools CEO called “horrific.”
The incident happened at about 10:20 a.m. Friday at the school in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, Prince George’s County police Chief Hank Stawinski said. It began with “physical contact” and escalated to an assault on the student, a 17-year-old girl, by the teacher, a woman in her 30s in her second year at the school.
Stawinski said the teacher is likely to face charges of physical child abuse and second-degree assault. He added that 30 students and eight administrators are being interviewed as witnesses.
“We are looking at every aspect of this,” he said, adding that “no video captures the entire set of circumstances.”
Still, he called the attack on the student “extraordinarily violent” and “criminal in nature.”
Neither the student nor the teacher required medical attention, said police spokeswoman Jennifer Donelan.
The incident was recorded on video and uploaded online.
Stawinski didn’t say whether the student, a senior, might face charges.
“Everything about this particular incident was completely unacceptable,” said Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks. “It makes you feel absolutely irate.”
Dr. Monica Goldson said she was “extremely disappointed by the horrific actions” captured on the video, and thanked the police and school security for responding quickly.
Goldson added that the accused teacher “does not represent the hard work that over 10,000 teachers do every day.”
WTOP’s Kyle Cooper contributed to this report.
