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Dad of 14-year-old charged in teacher attack talks to 7 Action News, says his son was high

Posted at 6:32 PM, Jan 11, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-11 18:32:52-05

DETROIT (WXYZ) — It was revealed in juvenile court Friday that the 14-year-old charged in what investigators say was an unprovoked attack on his substitute teacher tested positive for marijuana shortly after his arrest.

The assault happened around 10:45 a.m. Thursday at Cody High School on Detroit's west side.

District officials say the teen was upset that the substitute teacher, a 63-year-old woman, told school administrators that he was in the possession of marijuana.

Action News talked to the father of the fourteen-year-old Friday, and he said when he asked his son why he did it, he replied that it was because the teacher "snitched" on him.

This father says his son was not raised to behave this way and he's glad the teacher not only reported his son to school administrators, but that she also called him on Wednesday to tell him that his son smelled like marijuana and was being disrespectful.

The teen is now locked up at the Wayne County Juvenile Detention Facility in downtown Detroit on multiple charges that include Aggravated Assault.

The teacher is continuing to recover.

"She was doing her job," the teen's father said. "Her job is to protect the children."

After the teen allegedly attacked the teacher inside a classroom, several other students rushed to help her and can be seen on cell phone video pushing the teen away from the classroom and hitting him.

A security guard sustained some injuries when he joined other school workers in separating the children.

Click on the video to hear from the father in Kimberly Craig's report.