At about 12:20 p.m. yesterday, an OCCC student was taken away in handcuffs by campus security officers following an alleged altercation in the classroom where onlookers said he attempted to attack a female student.

Cinnammon Prather, child development major, said she was in the Vocabulary and Spelling classroom, located in room 3E4 on the third floor of Arts and Humanities, when an incident involving OCCC student Seth Settle took place.

“The young lady who was sitting in the class said something to Seth that he didn’t like,” Prather said. “The next thing you know he jumps up out of the chair, jumps in her face, told her what he was going to do to her, called her a b-i-t-c-h, the c-word and everything else.”

Prather said Settle then left the classroom only to return moments later.

“We go back to our work and the next thing you know he comes back up the stairs, back in to the classroom and shoved her, pushed her, told her that ‘you are gonna respect me.’ Then another dude who was sitting in between him and the female, he just automatically grabs him and wrestles him to the ground because Seth was coming back to fight her.”

Tyler Paschall, the student who said he pushed the female student out of the way, said his actions were instinctual.

“He looked like he was going to hit her,” Paschall said. “I don’t like guys treating girls that way.”

Prather said Settle is often teased in class.

“People make fun of him, make remarks to him, belittle him because he’s special,” she said. “Today was just the wrong day.”

OCCC Safety and Security Sgt. Larry Lundy declined comment.

Settle was unable to be reached for comment at this time.

The Pioneer will update this story as more information becomes available.

To contact Whitney Knight, email onlineeditor@occc.edu.