SEATTLE -- A high school student who was slapped and choked by his teacher on Wednesday says his fellow students are blaming him for causing trouble for the popular instructor.
The marks on his neck have faded, but 17-year-old Abisai Guerrero said being attacked by his own teacher at South Lake High School still stings.
"I don't feel safe going back to school," he said.
Cell phone video of the incident taken by one of Guerrero's classmates shows teacher Andy McCool shouting at students during a reading and writing course. Guerrero said McCool started cursing, so he spoke up.
"I wasn't doing nothing out of line," he said. "I just corrected him, told him why was he cussing in class."
It's not captured in the video, but Guerrero said that's when McCool came at him.
"He grabbed me like this with both of his hands, grabbed me from the side, and he was choking me," Guerrero said. "He was really choking me."
Guerrero said McCool let go after a few seconds, only to smack him in the head and order him to the principal's office for disrupting the class.
Guerrero's dad, Pablo, said the teacher had no right to hit his boy.
"I want to know what happened," he said. "I never had a problem like that for my son, the teacher do it like that."
Seattle police arrested McCool, but an officer brought him back to campus later that day. In a letter sent home to parents, school principal Barbara Moore said McCool has been placed on administrative leave.
After the attack, Guerrero said some of his classmates blamed him for getting McCool in trouble.
"They are saying, what did I do that for?" Guerrero said. "There's no reason for that, and I'm just afraid that other teachers will do the same thing to me or be against me."
South Lake High students are planning a lunch time rally Friday to support their teacher, who's not being allowed back on campus until the criminal investigation is complete
McCool refused to comment on this story.
The marks on his neck have faded, but 17-year-old Abisai Guerrero said being attacked by his own teacher at South Lake High School still stings.
"I don't feel safe going back to school," he said.
Cell phone video of the incident taken by one of Guerrero's classmates shows teacher Andy McCool shouting at students during a reading and writing course. Guerrero said McCool started cursing, so he spoke up.
"I wasn't doing nothing out of line," he said. "I just corrected him, told him why was he cussing in class."
It's not captured in the video, but Guerrero said that's when McCool came at him.
"He grabbed me like this with both of his hands, grabbed me from the side, and he was choking me," Guerrero said. "He was really choking me."
Guerrero said McCool let go after a few seconds, only to smack him in the head and order him to the principal's office for disrupting the class.
Guerrero's dad, Pablo, said the teacher had no right to hit his boy.
"I want to know what happened," he said. "I never had a problem like that for my son, the teacher do it like that."
Seattle police arrested McCool, but an officer brought him back to campus later that day. In a letter sent home to parents, school principal Barbara Moore said McCool has been placed on administrative leave.
After the attack, Guerrero said some of his classmates blamed him for getting McCool in trouble.
"They are saying, what did I do that for?" Guerrero said. "There's no reason for that, and I'm just afraid that other teachers will do the same thing to me or be against me."
South Lake High students are planning a lunch time rally Friday to support their teacher, who's not being allowed back on campus until the criminal investigation is complete
McCool refused to comment on this story.