Student arrested after allegedly assaulting teacher at Edmonds middle school

MARTHA LAKE, Wash. - A student has been arrested from Alderwood Middle School after being accused of assaulting and injuring an educator there on Wednesday. 

The Edmonds School District put out a statement saying that the woman was sent to the hospital and is now recovering at home.  

Students told FOX 13 that the student lashed out at the paraeducator following the lunch period.  

"It didn’t shock me as much as I feel like it should have," said Jaedon Coila, an Edmonds School District graduate. 

As word spreads about the student that was arrested from Alderwood Middle School, Coila says middle school students district-wide are talking about it, including his brother in 7th grade.

"He came to me with his phone and he opened it and was like, ‘hey have you seen this?,’" said Coila. 

Now a college student at the University of Oregon, Coila says he's previously mentored kids in the area through youth programs and wasn't surprised by the report of violence.  

"I’m involved with a lot of the youth here. Just last year, there was another incident. There was another kid too who was very present in my life, and he was getting beat up at the school too, and it was a frequent, frequent thing," said Coila.   

A 7th grader who attends AMS said that after the accused student struck the educator, "she went flying." The grandfather of a different student called the situation, "super disturbing" and said his grandson told him that the teacher had been pushed down the stairs or near the stairs.  

The details of the assault are unclear. The district declined an interview Thursday, deferring to this previously released statement: 

"We are grateful the Alderwood Middle School staff member injured by a student on Wednesday was released from the hospital last night and is recovering at home. The student involved was arrested and emergency expelled from school.

We want to thank the nearby staff who intervened to calm the situation and called 911. No other students or staff were hurt. 

The incident took place on Wednesday at the end of one of the lunch periods. No weapons were involved.  As this is still an active investigation, we are not able to provide more details at this time."

"I always tell my kids, violence is never the way to get things done. You can always have a discussion," said Coila.  

He believes that without an emotional outlet, kids will lash out. He also thinks that incidents of violence are increasing. 

"I don’t remember so much violence when I was in middle school. It's too frequent, too frequent of a thing," said Coila. 

FOX 13 reached out to the Edmonds Education Association. A representative there said paraeducators are not represented by the union, so they would not be representing the injured educator in this situation.