A Texas baseball coach was chased and beaten by a group of middle-school students in an act of retaliation against him, news outlets report.
The attack was captured on cell phone video now circulating on social media, and shows a Houston high school employee running from four students, who can be seen punching the man and knocking him to the ground.
(Warning: This video contains graphic language.)
Officials with Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District confirmed to TV station KTRK that the assault took place at Langham Creek High School on Feb. 10.
The attackers are students at Aragon Middle School, the outlet reported, and the victim is Michael Shott, an assistant baseball coach and physics teacher at Langham Creek High School.
Shott suffered a broken arm from the attack and is recovering, his mother, Peggy Shott, told KTRK.
“The reason it happened to him was because he was doing his job,” she said.
Students and social media users say Shott was jumped because he told the students they couldn’t ride dirt bikes or ATVs on school grounds, outlets report.
The students were arrested, but soon after threats to shoot up the school were made, and the district tightened security, KABB reported.
“We couldn’t walk around unless we had an ID badge, they wouldn’t even let us in,” sophomore Alena Gonzales told the TV station.
The district sent a letter to parents stating that the juveniles had been taken into custody and would be disciplined, according to the outlet. How they will be disciplined, or if they will face charges, is not clear.
“These kids need to get into a whole lot of trouble,” one parent told the station. “I’m just speechless.”
In a Feb. 11 release, district officials said the “safety violations that have occurred both on and off our campuses are extremely disappointing.”
“Our campuses must be the safest places in our community for students, staff and visitors. We will not tolerate anyone compromising the safe environment of our campuses, and will address violations to the greatest extent possible,” the release said.
McClatchy News reached out to the school district on Feb. 13 for further comment.
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