Teacher on leave for allegedly threatening to kill student

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

A Georgia teacher has been placed on leave after being caught on camera threatening a student.

April Carr, whose son attends Rockdale Career Academy, sent the video to local news, showing the teacher berating the high school junior.

“I’m serious, dude. If you screw with me, you’re going to get in big [expletive] trouble. Don’t smile at me, man. That’s how people like you get shot. I got a bet. I bet, by the time you’re 21, somebody is going to put a bullet in your head. OK? And it might be me…the one who does it,” the teacher, who has been identified as Paul Hagen in a Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office report filed by Carr, can be heard to say on the video.

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Carr admitted that her son had been laughing during Hagen’s lesson but insisted that it was no excuse for Hagen’s behavior.

“He definitely should have been paying attention, getting his lesson…and doing what he was supposed to be doing,” Carr said. “But at the end of the day, he is a child and that teacher is an adult. He is supposed to maintain control of that classroom and of himself… if you are frustrated, pull him out the class or wait until another class period. Let yourself calm down then pull him to the side and talk to him. You don’t threaten his life.”

While the teacher has since apologized, Carr wants Hagen to be fired.

The school is still investigating the incident, but in the meantime, Hagen has been placed on administrative leave.

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