Teen charged with battery after striking school Dean

A King Middle School Student was charged on Tuesday for a January ruckus in the schools cafeteria.

Matthew Singer, 13, was charged with battery on a school employee, a third degree felony.

Singer was in the lunchroom on Jan. 21, when he became unruly after a teacher’s assistant asked him to move to another section of the lunchroom.

The student refused this request and cursed the assistant amid laughter from fellow students. Singer then turned his anger toward the students in the cafeteria with more obscenities.

Singer was then directed to leave the cafeteria and go the Dean’s office. That directive was met with more obscenities and a threat from Singer towards the teacher’s aide.

Sean Twitty, King Middle School’s Dean of Students, told Singer to calm down as he attempted to direct Singer to his office.

Singer met this request with more obscenities and offensive jesters.

Twitty took Singer by the shirt and attempted to remove him from the lunchroom, according to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Offense Report.

Singer continued cursing at Twitty and started throwing punches at the Dean as he was removed from the cafeteria. Several of Singer’s punches landed on Twitty’s arms and body according to the report.

Twitty sat Singer down on a couch and Singer continued to curse and throw more punches, with the report stating a couple swings “barely missed Twitty’s face.”

One of Singer’s punches landed Twitty’s right elbow, which according to the report, began to swell.

David Gunter, King Middle School Principal, was called to help Twitty. As Gunter approached the situation he could hear the cursing and later witnessed several swings at Twitty as well as the punch that landed on his elbow.

Gunter told officers that Singer calmed down after he arrived and deputies noted in the offense report that Singer stopped all of his “aggressive posturing” after arriving.

Singer was detained by deputies and released to the custody of his parent or guardian.

At the time of the incident there were an estimated 200 students in the King Middle School cafeteria.