Football Player Hits Opponent With Helmet During High School Game
The district said he'd been removed from team; police are investigating.
— -- A high school athlete in Linden, New Jersey, has been kicked off the football team and is in the process of being suspended from school after he was caught on tape hitting a player on the opposing team with a helmet, a Linden official said today.
The Linden Public School District said in a statement today that it was "extremely disheartened" at the incident that occurred Friday, during the second quarter of a varsity football game with Immaculata High School.
In a video, an Immaculata player can be seen losing his helmet during a play. Then, a Linden player strikes him in the head with it. The Immaculata player then stands up, raising his arms in the air, and a flag is thrown. The Linden player reportedly received a penalty for unsportsmanlike behavior but was not ejected from the game. The players' identities were not released.
"The Board of Education is appalled by the conduct of this student athlete. ... The brutal action taken by this young man is simply unacceptable and will not be condoned," the Linden district said in a news release. "The board is pursuing the severest disciplinary measures permitted under law and has removed this student from the football team."
Officials from Immaculata, located in Somerville, New Jersey, said they reviewed the tape and contacted officials at Linden. Immaculata said Linden had been cooperative and "apologetic" about the incident.
"We do not believe this reflects the Linden athletic program," Immaculata said in its statement. "Our history with them has been stellar for many years now."
The Linden official said the school's coaching staff would be interviewed to determine whether there had been a previous altercation between the teams' players. The official also said the district was using the incident as a "teaching moment" to stress that violence would not be tolerated.
The injured player had received 10 stitches after the game to close the wound, Immaculata said. The school also said that it had contacted the Linden Police Department as well as the Union County Prosecutor’s Office.
So far, no charges have been filed.
ABC News' Erin Keohane and Josh Margolin contributed to this story.
