75-year-old substitute teacher says he was brutally attacked. Now, a teen is charged
A 16-year-old has been charged more than a month after a 75-year-old substitute teacher said he was brutally attacked in an Indiana classroom, according to Indiana prosecutors and news reports.
The incident happened Feb. 1 at Perry Meridian High School in Indianapolis, according to the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office.
Rob Gooding was teaching at the school and told WTHR he asked a student to put away their phone. A separate student then intervened.
“I said, ‘Please put it away, and she says, ‘Why are you picking on me?’” Gooding said in an interview with WTHR. I said, ‘I’m not.’ All of the sudden, to my right, I heard, ‘I’ve had it!’ and this kid jumped over a row of desks.”
Gooding said the 16-year-old charged at him with a Chromebook, and the teacher blocked it from hitting him, according to WISH.
“All of a sudden he hovered over me and with his left hand whammed me,” Gooding told WISH.
The attack left him with a black eye, reports say.
The student was not arrested after the attack, but WXIN reported he was expelled from the school.
School officials said it was “disturbed by the allegations,” adding that it has “zero tolerance for violence,” according to a statement obtained by WXIN.
Gooding, according to the news reports, continued to plead for charges weeks after the incident.
The 16-year-old was charged in juvenile court Tuesday, March 5, with battery resulting in moderate bodily injury and criminal recklessness, prosecutors said. His identity was not publicly disclosed.
Gooding, who began substitute teaching after retiring, said he will not return to the classroom.
“My wife has been wanting me to quit for a couple of years,” Gooding told WISH. “Like I said, I’m 75. So with this, it kind of forced the issue.”
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