BATON ROUGE — The principal of Glen Oaks High School was attacked during an altercation with a student last week, the school district superintendent said.

Superintendent Lamont Cole, while telling members of the Baton Rouge Rotary Club about the loyalty of East Baton Rouge Parish School District employees to their students, said Wednesday that Randall had been jumped in his office by a student and injured.

“Eric Randall, who is the principal at Glen Oaks High School, was attacked last week by a student in his office — cut in his rib — and called me that evening to say, ‘I’ll be back at work tomorrow, boss,’” Cole told the Rotary Club. “These are the types of people we have working in our school system.”

Reached Thursday, district spokesman Perry Robinson initially told WBRZ that, according to schools security chief Capt. Rodney Walker, no incident had occurred. He sent the following message: 

"I heard the superintendent mention that during his speech yesterday at Rotary. I spoke to Captain Walker with our school security, and he confirmed that did not happen. Mr. Cole must’ve misspoken, but I will follow up with him to see what he was referring to."

When WBRZ asked to speak to Cole and Randall, Robinson called to explain further.

“I was finally able to talk to (the superintendent) and he said an assault did happen. I talked back with Captain Walker and he said an assault did happen with the principal but no one had a weapon,” Robinson said. “It wasn’t like the student had a weapon.”

Thursday night, the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office said a 17-year-old student was in the principal’s office and learned he had been suspended for skipping class. Deputies said the student got mad and threw a chair, which knocked over computer monitors and landed on the principal’s desk. The teen was arrested for aggravated assault and simple criminal damage to property and then released to his mother.