SANTA PAULA : Inquiry Begins Into Classroom Attack
An attack on a Santa Paula High School student by a 53-year-old man, who allegedly attempted to strangle the 16-year-old boy, has prompted an investigation of the classroom incident, school officials said Wednesday.
The man, Roy H. Pascal of Cedar City, Utah, was arrested on suspicion of battery in the incident last week, Santa Paula police said.
“We’re already doing everything we can,” Supt. Robert Fisher said. “If a security officer sees someone on campus, the visitor is directed to the office and escorted to the classroom.”
Pascal came to the campus about 9 a.m. to visit an acquaintance, teacher Katherine Fisher, the superintendent said. Pascal did not have permission to be in the teacher’s classroom, where the scuffle took place, Supt. Fisher said.
The student apparently said or did something that angered Pascal, said the superintendent, who declined to elaborate.
The teacher has been placed on indefinite administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, Supt. Fisher said.
The superintendent described the attack as violent and said the boy was treated by a local doctor for bruises. Fisher did not know Wednesday if the student had returned to school.
He said school officials are still collecting reports from witnesses to try to make sense of the case, but he does not think Pascal knew the boy.
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