WATCH: Video appears to show Atlanta student being attacked by ex-school employee
Video of a South Atlanta High School student allegedly being attacked by a former school employee was obtained by Channel 2 Action News Thursday.
The Oct. 3 incident in the school library initially resulted in simple battery charges against Zahki Koonce, 17, and Henry Coleman, who was formerly a “graduation coach” at the school before being terminated by Atlanta Public Schools, AJC.com previously reported.
Coleman initially claimed that the student punched him in the arm with a closed fist, so he had to defend himself.
But the video doesn’t appear to show the student throw a punch. It instead seems to back up Koonce’s version of events, according to his attorney, Kimberly Bandoh.
“He told the truth,” Bandoh told Channel 2. “Exactly what happened is what he said happened.”
A student says this video proves he did nothing wrong when an instructor brutally attacked him. How the video led to prosecutors dropping charges against him. That’s at 11. @wsbtv pic.twitter.com/G4OEe3rHas
— Tom Jones (@TomJonesWSBTV) November 16, 2018
Koonce said the altercation began when he touched Coleman on the shoulder and asked, "What's up?"
He said Coleman then lost control and attacked him.
“I just felt my body, my whole body just fly into the table with books on it,” the student previously told Channel 2. “He came to the table. Slung me off the table to the ground.”
After APS saw the video, they asked for the charges against Koonce to be dropped, according to a prior statement.
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The statement by APS spokesman Ian Smith also said, “The district has completed a review of the incident. The employee has been removed from the school and is currently proceeding through the steps of the district’s disciplinary process according to the civil service policy.”
Surveillance video barely captured the face of the instructor accused of attacking a student in the media center. While it barely captured his face, it did record the attack. I’ll have it tonight at 11. @wsbtv pic.twitter.com/Rp5oBt8h6O
— Tom Jones (@TomJonesWSBTV) November 16, 2018
Channel 2 was unable to reach Coleman for comment.
Koonce’s mother, Shekela Bryant, told Channel 2 Thursday she doesn’t understand why Coleman attacked her son.
“To choke ... to push him on the ground by his face. It’s just too much,” she said. “I don’t understand why he could attack a child like that.”
Their child told them he was beaten by a Graduation Coach after he playfully tapped the instructor on the shoulder and said good morning. Now his parents say a video proves their child was telling the truth. I’ll show you the video...at 11. @wsbtv pic.twitter.com/6OoX6GEIwe
— Tom Jones (@TomJonesWSBTV) November 16, 2018
His father, Jamil Koonce, told the news station he wants harsher charges against Coleman.
“That was aggravated assault. Cruelty to children,” he said. “That was a brutal attack.”
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About the Author
Zachary Hansen, a Georgia native, covers economic development and commercial real estate for the AJC. He's been with the newspaper since 2018 and enjoys diving into complex stories that affect people's lives.
