Substitute teacher accused of choking 8th grader in Kalamazoo

A woman says her 13-year-old son had red marks and bruises on his neck after being choked by a substitute teacher at a Kalamazoo school.

Mona Thompson tells WWMT-TV her son was asked to leave the classroom Tuesday at Kalamazoo’s Milwood Magnet School after another student threw a tennis ball at the teacher. She says the teacher grabbed the 8th grader by the throat in trying to remove him.

She says other middle school students tried to intervene and her son “retaliated with a punch.”

Police say prosecutors will review the case.

The Kalamazoo school district says in a statement the teacher is removed from its substitute teaching list. The district says there are “conflicting allegations regarding this situation” and four students were scheduled for hearings on possible discipline.  (AP)