When a south-end mother asked her son how school went on Monday, the fourth-grader at Hawthorne Elementary showed his mother scratches and bruises on his neck and explained his teacher choked him, according to a Seattle police report. His mother called police, who interviewed the boy to find out what happened.

The boy told officers that he and his friends had been inside the school's computer lab, where some of them were making fun of another student's mother. After returning to the classroom, he and other students continued the jokes. While the teacher was in the room, the victim kept talking to himself, despite his friends telling him to be quiet. He began talking to himself again, simply stating "I hate this teacher."

The police officer relays the rest of the boy's story: "[The teacher] then approached [him] and wrapped both of his hands around his neck. [He] stated [the teacher] then picked him up by his neck, and he had trouble breathing."

When the police officer asked the boy if he asked for help or cried, the boy "immediately responded by saying something to the effect of, 'Oh no... the teacher said if I asked for help he would do it again.'" The boy told officers that another student witnessed the event, but the report says police had not yet identified a witness to corroborate the story.

According to Teresa Wippel, a spokeswoman for Seattle Public Schools, the suspect is an instructional aide, and not a teacher, who is under investigation. "The principal first learned of it Tuesday morning, when the student and his family came into the school," Wippel says. She adds that the district has placed the employee on administrative leave. Wippel is currently investigating the employee's tenure with the district, as well as any past disciplinary record. Wippel also notes that "the detective did come out to school yesterday, and [the student] would not talk to her."

"At the time of this report I observed scratches and bruising on the left side of [the student's] neck," report's Officer Shaub. The Stranger has filed a public records request with SPD for all evidence related to this case, and we'll update the story when we hear more.

Police had not referred the case to prosecutors at the time of filing the report. Seattle Police Detective Mark Jamieson says the case has been been referred to an officer for further investigation.