'I'm afraid he's going to do it again': Student claims teacher assaulted him

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — A spokesperson for Gaston County Schools said an East Gaston High School teacher is suspended with pay while police investigate a reported assault in class.

Freshman Kaleb Duff didn't go to school on Wednesday, because he said school administrators couldn't assure him that his fourth-period teacher wouldn't be back in class after an incident on Tuesday.

“I'm just afraid he is going to do it again,” Duff said.

The 15-year-old said he was holding a box of doughnuts another student brought to class. He said the teacher got angry when he realized Duff had something under his desk.

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Duff said, “He came around that corner vicious."

He told Gaston County police the teacher yanked the chair from under him and thumped him in the chest with a stack of papers.

The student said his teacher then grabbed him by the arm and pulled him across the classroom.

Duff said he managed to pull free and a classmate stood between him and the teacher and confronted the instructor.

“He told him, ‘You can't be doing that,’” Duff said. “If he didn’t jump up, it would have kept on going."

Duff said two classmates went with him to the office to tell the assistant principal what happened.

Duff's father got a voice message from the principal telling him about the confrontation at school.

The message said, “Mr. ---- grabbed his chair and grabbed his arm." The principal told the father someone was treating Duff's injuries, scratches and bruises he got during the scuffle. The principal went on to say, “we will definitely be investigating this at the school."

Duff's father contacted the police after the incident. An officer talked to the teenager while he waited for doctors to check him out at the emergency room.

Police told Channel 9 they also plan to talk to other students who were in the class.

Cox Media Group