A South Atlanta High School student said he was body-slammed by a teacher — and then charged with battery, Channel 2 Action News reported.
And his mother is working to get the charge dropped.
Zahki Koonce, 17, said the Oct. 3 incident in the school library started when he touched teacher Henry 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,” Koonce told the news station. “He came to the table. Slung me off the table to the ground.”
And his mother, Shekela Bryant, said she was surprised when she got a call from a school resource officer about the situation.
She said she was told her son was charged for striking the teacher in an insulting or provoking nature.
“I was very shocked,” she told Channel 2.
Coleman, who is a graduation coach, is charged with simple battery but was not arrested, according to Atlanta Public Schools spokesman Seth Coleman. The school district also confirmed the charge against Koonce.
The teacher did not speak with Channel 2 about the incident.
After making a hospital trip for injuries, Koonce now wants his charge dropped, and tough punishment for Coleman.
“I don't think he should be working there around any students,” Koonce said.
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