Attack on Teacher May Have Been Inspired by Social Media Challenge, Police Say

A Louisiana precocious schoolhouse pupil is facing a felony complaint of artillery aft she punched a teacher respective times successful a schoolroom connected Wednesday, the authorities said, an onslaught that was recorded connected video and whitethorn person been inspired by a TikTok challenge.

But TikTok said successful a connection that the purported situation was not a inclination connected its app and that it does not let videos promoting violence.

The student, Larrianna Jackson, 18, who attends Covington High School, astir 45 miles northbound of New Orleans, knocked the 64-year-old English teacher to the crushed and kept hitting her, the constabulary said connected Thursday.

The teacher, who is disabled and has occupation walking, was released from an country infirmary aft being treated for injuries to her arms and head, Sgt. Edwin Masters, a spokesperson for the Covington Police Department, said successful an interview. The onslaught remains nether investigation, and further arrests were expected, the constabulary said.

Investigators seized the cellphones of immoderate different students who recorded the attack, according to Sergeant Masters, who said that astatine slightest 1 of the videos had been posted connected Instagram and Snapchat.

The constabulary were trying to find if the onslaught was portion of a alleged TikTok challenge, a societal media craze among teenagers that critics fearfulness could escalate from signaling videos of acts of theft and vandalism to documenting assault.

“The expected TikTok situation the period of October was: Slap a teacher,” Sergeant Masters said. “There’s conscionable speech amongst students and module that it whitethorn beryllium related to the TikTok challenge.”

It was not instantly wide whether Ms. Jackson, who continued to beryllium held astatine the St. Tammany Parish Jail connected Thursday, had a lawyer. She could look 1 to 5 years successful jailhouse and a $5,000 good if convicted of the charge, artillery of a schoolteacher, the authorities said.

In a connection connected Thursday, Frank J. Jabbia, the superintendent of the St. Tammany Parish Public Schools, condemned the attack. He said that schoolhouse officials had not been capable to link the onslaught to a TikTok challenge, though.

“This onslaught is disturbing, and truthful is the information that different students stood by, recorded it and posted it connected societal media,” Mr. Jabbia said. “The schoolhouse strategy is taking the due disciplinary enactment against each students involved. We don’t person immoderate grounds from our probe that this incidental is related to the TikTok challenge, but immoderate acts of violence, including information successful amerciable societal media trends, volition not beryllium tolerated successful our schoolhouse system.”

TikTok condemned immoderate efforts to usage its app to beforehand unit and said connected Twitter connected Wednesday that those types of videos were banned from the platform.

“The rumored ‘slap a teacher’ situation is an insult to educators everywhere,” TikTok said. “And portion this is not a inclination connected TikTok, if astatine immoderate constituent it shows up, contented volition beryllium removed.”

The onslaught happened astir 3:15 p.m. connected Wednesday conscionable aft the last dismissal bell, Sergeant Masters said. Most of the students had already near the schoolroom erstwhile Ms. Jackson approached the teacher, who had been sitting astatine her desk, according to Sergeant Masters and a video taken by different pupil that was released by the Covington police.

Seconds earlier the archetypal punch was thrown, idiosyncratic connected the video says, “I’m going to commencement running.” The camera had already been rolling for much than 22 seconds successful the video, which included a caption, “this is covington fa ya,” with a skull emoji.

The video showed the student, whom the authorities identified arsenic Ms. Jackson, punching the teacher respective times earlier the signaling stopped.

“The video is circulating precise heavy close now,” Sergeant Masters said.