FORT WAYNE, Ind. — A high school teacher in Indiana is facing charges after police say he punched a student in the face while breaking up a fight.
Danny Lively, 57, teaches social studies at Northrop High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana. According to court documents, Lively stepped in between two students who were having an argument in a school hallway on March 7, WANE reported. Investigators said Lively pushed one of the students with his left hand, and when the student swatted it away, he delivered a right-handed punch to the students face.
Investigators told WKJG that surveillance video from inside the school shows Lively step between the two students and take the swing. Lively told police that the victim yelled at him, “what are you going to do, you fat old man,” as well as yelled an expletive.
Court documents obtained by WPTA said surveillance video shows Lively take a “bladed and postured stance” when he hit the victim, who tried to back away, but Lively kept advancing.
Detectives on scene said Lively initially said the victim was wearing an employee T-shirt, so he thought he was an adult trying to fight a student, WPTA reported. Lively also told police he initially went to defend one of his students after hearing commotion in the hallway and yelling at both people to leave, WANE reported. “I would never have touched a kid and would have protected (the other student),” Lively told police.
A spokesperson for the school district told WANE that Lively has been placed on leave, and was unable to discuss the status of the students involved.