Police investigating after 2 students viciously attacked at same high school

GASTONIA, N.C. — Two Gaston County fathers are furious after they said their children were attacked by other students at school.

Both incidents were recorded (WARNING: The video in this story may be difficult to watch for some viewers).

The first attack happened last Thursday. In the video obtained by Channel 9, one boy stands over another who is seated at a desk before punching him. He then pulls the boy out of his seat and slams him on the ground while still throwing punches.

Then on Monday, a girl attacked another girl, pulling her hair and throwing punches.

The fights happened at Forestview High School in Gastonia, and police said they are investigating both incidents.

(WATCH BELOW: Cell phone video of both attacks -- WARNING: graphic content)

CELL PHONE VIDEO: Students attacked in classrooms at Forestview High School

In both incidents, the teachers were not in class when the attacks happened. In the second case, the victim’s father said his daughter warned people at the school that the attack could happen -- minutes before it did.

The assaults were recorded by classmates with cell phones.

The incident on Thursday was sudden. 15-year-old Christian Scaff was no match for his larger classmate. But during the attack, he held a lifeline in his hand that moved his father to tears.

“He was on his phone trying to call me first thing to come help him,” said Eddie Scaff. “And I couldn’t be there.”

The bigger student banged Christian’s head on the floor because he thought the freshman said something about him.

“I was just thinking, ‘I want to get out of this classroom,’” the boy told Channel 9.

He was able to walk away and called his father on the way to the principal’s office. The videos they discovered later were given to police.

“It’s crushing,” Eddie Scaff said. “You know, as a dad, to see your son go through something like that. There is no words to describe it.”

He said it hurt even more to learn that the teacher wasn’t in the classroom. Christian said it was unusual, and she was gone for several minutes.

“There definitely should have been a teacher in the room, because then none of that would have happened,” he said.

Then on Monday, it happened to another student.

“Not even a week later another kid gets attacked,” said Eddie Scaff. “It’s bad, man.”

>> Bullying Prevention: NC Dept. of Public Instruction Resources

Jim Jacobs said that minutes before his daughter was attacked, she warned school administrators that the blonde-haired girl seen in the video had threatened to harm her.

“It’s just pathetic,” he told Channel 9.

The teacher then walked in and broke up the assault.

“What are you doing in my room?” the teacher can be heard yelling in the video. “Get out of here now.”

He then walked the attacker out of the room.

“My question is, where are the teachers? They are not in the room,” Jacobs said.

>> North Carolina Anti-Bullying Laws & Policies

We asked school officials that exact question, and a spokesperson for Gaston County Schools sent us the following response.

“We realize that classroom supervision is important, and the presence of a teacher/adult may deter a fight or another incident from happening; however, we cannot assume that it would prevent such an incident.”

The district said it is addressing the issue with the teachers and reviewing classroom/student supervision expectations with all staff.

Both of the students who were attacked are OK, but worried.

Christian said the student who attacked him is in all four of his classes. The girl who was attacked said the classmate who assaulted her is in one of her classes.

They are not in class now, and school officials told Channel 9 they can’t reveal if those students will be back in the same class.

Gaston County police, who patrol about half of the schools in the county, told Channel 9 that assaults are down dramatically this year. They attribute the decline to students not being on campus as much because of the pandemic.

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