Gwinnett student charged with punching teacher, cop

A Norcross High School student was arrested Monday after allegedly punching a school resource officer and a teacher.

A Norcross High School student was arrested Monday after punching a school resource officer and a teacher, a police report said.

The 17-year-old student was charged with battery on a school teacher or other school personnel and willful obstruction of law enforcement, both felonies; and disruption of public schools and simple battery, which are misdemeanors.

The AJC is not naming the student because he is a minor.

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School resource officers were called to the student’s classroom at 12:30 p.m. Monday. The student was being so disruptive that a teacher had to empty the classroom until officers arrived, the police report said. There was “no criminal element” to the student’s behavior initially, so police allowed the student to walk out, following him first from a distance and then through surveillance video.

Police then got another call about the student, saying he was back at the classroom and acting “worse than last time,”  and “being disruptive, the report said.

Norcross' Paul Duke Building a Blue Devil Stadium. The Blue Devils beat the Meadowcreek Mustangs 33-6 on Friday Nov. 3, 2017 (Photo Credit Alex Makrides)

Credit: amakrides00

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Credit: amakrides00

When a teacher attempted to call an administrator, the student knocked the phone out of the teacher’s hand and began punching him in the head, the report said. By the time other students pulled the boy away, the teacher had cuts on his ear “and elbow.

When the officer returned to the classroom, the student was sitting against a wall. The student became angry when an officer approached him and punched the officer in the face multiple times, the report said. After another officer arrived to assist, the first officer was able to handcuff the student.

The student was transported to the Gwinnett County Detention Center. He was released on $1,300 bond around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.

“Gwinnett County Public Schools will not tolerate violence against its teachers and staff,” the district said in a statement. “If a student physically attacks a teacher, he or she will be arrested and criminally prosecuted in addition to facing school disciplinary action. In this situation, our SROs acted quickly and the student was apprehended before the situation escalated further.”

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