A teen boy is facing charges after he was caught on camera fighting with a teacher at a Northeast Philadelphia high school.
Police say the incident took place at Lincoln High School on Ryan Avenue Monday. The 16-year-old boy was late to class leading to a dispute with a 44-year-old teacher, according to investigators. [[394223471, C]]
A video posted on Facebook shows the student and teacher fighting each other in the hallway as other students watch though it’s unclear from the clip how the fight started.
"They got in the hallway and they just started fighting," said Roniesha Little, a Sophomore at the school.
Police told NBC10 however that the fight began after the teen punched the teacher in the face.
"It's outrageous because of the simple fact that the video was going on for like two minutes straight but ain't nobody break it up," said Sianni McLaine, a student at Lincoln High. "Everybody was just sitting there."
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The teen is charged with simple assault, aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person. The teacher has not been charged. Officials have not yet revealed whether the teacher will face any disciplinary action. Many of the students who spoke with NBC10 defended the teacher's actions.
"He was trying to detain him if you couldn't see in the video," said Laura Berry, a junior at Lincoln High. "I don't get why nobody tried to break it up."
The Philadelphia School District is working with Philadelphia Police and also conducting their own investigation on the incident.
"We take the safety of our students and our teachers very seriously,” said H. Lee Whack Jr., a spokesperson for the Philadelphia School District. “Violence of any kind in our schools is unacceptable, and will not be tolerated. We are working in cooperation with the Philadelphia Police Department and we are conducting our own investigation to gather all of the facts regarding this incident.”
