A Southern California high school teacher was put on leave after engaging in a physical fight with a student that was caught on video.
Superintendent of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Sandra Lyon issued an official statement to students' parents on Friday, after a confrontation in the classroom turned violent.
Multiple students in the room took video footage of the fight between the unidentified student and Mark Black, who also works as a wrestling coach at the Los Angeles high school.
Lyon described the videos as "utterly alarming."
"...A deeply disturbing incident involving a teacher and student occurred in a classroom at Santa Monica High School, resulting in the Santa Monica Police Department being called to the campus," Fox reported Lyon as saying. "I am grateful that there is no reported serious physical harm to students or teachers, but that neither dismisses the severity of this situation nor my commitment to gather all the facts and make sure the proper actions are taken."
Lyon also added that no one was injured during the fight.
"Until the investigation is complete, we will not have all the details that led up to this incident; nevertheless, based on what I have viewed, the kind of physical restraint used by the teacher is unacceptable. I have placed the teacher on leave, pending the outcome of an independent investigation."
Student Kylan Townsend told My Fox LA that the fight broke out after a disagreement took place in the classroom.
"The guy was selling drugs and the teacher told him to stop and he didn't stop," Townsend recalled. "So I guess they started fighting...and then he closed the door."
The video depicts the teacher and student wrestling in the middle of the classroom.
"I am committed to ensure that any disciplinary action taken in this matter is based on facts, the law and all students' right to a safe learning environment," Lyon wrote in her statement.
