LARGO, Md. — Prince George's County police have charged the teacher who physically assaulted a 17-year-old student at Largo High School on Friday.
The teacher, Vivian Noirie, 36, is charged with physical child abuse and second degree assault. Police say the teacher and student got into a physical confrontation inside a classroom around 10:25 a.m.
During a press conference on Friday, police said 40 people are being interviewed to learn more about what happened.
Police announced the charges and details of the investigation Saturday.
According to officials, the student was upset with the teacher for contacting her parents the night before and approached the teacher.
Police said the student admitted to stepping on the teacher's foot and bumping into the teacher with her shoulder. Then the teacher repeatedly struck the student, police said.
School employees stepped in to separate the two, but according to police, the student grabbed the teacher from behind and repeatedly struck her before getting separated once again.
Neither the teacher nor the student needed medical attention, police said.
Police said detectives are petitioning for charges against the student through the juvenile court system. Because the student is a juvenile, the police will not be releasing any additional details regarding the charges against the student.
The assault was caught on cell phone video that spread on social media. Police said officers were notified and investigators went to the school.
15-year-old sophomore Martin Bentu recorded much of the fight on his phone and shared it with a friend. Within minutes, that video had made its way to social media and gained thousands of views.
"I scratched myself, I was like, for real, this is happening?" Bentu said.
He said right before the fight broke out, his Spanish class was taking a test on their laptops. Bentu said he saw the student approach the teacher.
"The student kept coming up to her asking, are you going to change my grade? Are you going to change my grade?," Bentu said.
He said, at first, the teacher responded calmly.
"She had told the student, 'please can you back up, please,' and the student was like, no I’m trying to talk to you about my grade," he said.
Bentu said he felt like something was about to happen, so he pulled out his phone to start recording.
"She nudged the teacher, and the teacher immediately swung, and then they went at it," Bentu said.
Noirie was hired last November, school officials said.
During the press conference, Stawinski also said there was an unrelated gun incident at the school Thursday, where a student brought a semi-automatic gun to school. No one was hurt and students alerted a teacher about the gun.
Bentu said students are now required to use clear backpacks in school, starting Monday.