Father charged after entering New Jersey classroom to order son to ‘apologize to daughter’

The father of a Gloucester County High School student has been charged after entering a classroom in March and allegedly threatening a student involved in an argument with his daughter.

The 39-year-old Gibbstown man was at Paulsboro High School on March 11 to drop off his child, according to court documents. But he ended up in a classroom where he ordered a teen to apologize to his daughter, according to video of the incident shared on social media.

The video also shows the angry father about to fight with a second student.

A Gloucester County grand jury indicted the man on Sept. 4 on two third-degree felony counts of making terroristic threats.

Police had initially charged him with those offenses, as well as simple assault, trespassing and disorderly conduct.

His attorney did not respond to a request for comment on the indictment Wednesday. The father, who was released from prison in March to await trial, is expected back in court Oct. 7 for a post-indictment arraignment hearing.

Police say the man’s daughter allegedly had an issue with another student over photos that were allegedly shared with others. Instead of leaving the school after taking his daughter out on the day of the confrontation, the father allegedly headed to a classroom upstairs.

A video posted on social media shows the father being led into a classroom and then someone knocking on the door. It’s unclear who let the parent and the person recording the video into the locked room. Once inside, the parent confronted a teenage student.

“You have a problem with my daughter?” he asked the teenager. “Apologize to my daughter.”

“I didn’t do anything to him,” the student replied.

“You heard what I said. Apologize to my daughter,” the father repeated, his voice growing louder. “Now.”

The man then confronted another student who spoke to him, according to the video.

It took more than a minute for the two-minute, 51-second video to air before an adult attempted to intervene. A man put his arm around the father’s back and attempted to escort him out of the room while the parent traded vulgar remarks with the second student, the video shows.

“If I have to come back here, I’ll shoot you both,” the father said as he started to leave the classroom.

One of the students the father confronted then tried to encourage him to fight, according to the video. The man, who had nearly walked out of the classroom, returned to confront the teen. The parent and teen appeared to make physical contact, and police alleged the father made threats and grabbed the student’s arm.

The school’s security chief was not notified of the incident until the father was already outside the school, according to the probable cause affidavit filed with the charges. Police were dispatched to the scene hours later.

The teacher in the classroom did not have his radio handy to communicate with school security and did not want to escalate the situation by using it, according to the affidavit. Instead, the teacher said he tried to de-escalate the confrontation by talking to the father, police said.

The first teen confronted by the father was identified as a 15-year-old student, according to his parents, who filed a police report about the incident. They said their son received anonymous threats after the confrontation and told NJ Advance Media in March that they were considering removing him from school.

They condemned school officials for failing to intervene quickly and protect their son.

A day after the incident, district Superintendent Phillip C. Neff sent a letter to parents saying the incident “provides us with an opportunity to reflect and analyze current practices to further strengthen the district’s security procedures to ensure our schools are a safe place for all students and staff.”

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You can reach Matt Gray at [email protected].