Physics Professor Goes on Rage in Class

Wed Oct 13,11:12 PM ET


LAFAYETTE, La. - A University of Louisiana at Lafayette physics professor was banned from the campus Wednesday and taken to the coroner's office for evaluation after threatening his class, university officials said.

Student Kacie Spears said professor Louis Houston lost control right after class began Wednesday morning and was yelling obscenities.

"Then he told us if we got out of our seats he's gonna kill us. He went on the black board and wrote "911 now", so we were really in fear for our lives," Spears told KATC-TV.

Spears said Houston slapped a student and then told his class he was God.

After class ended, students left the room in Broussard Hall and someone called campus security.

Houston was taken to campus police to answer questions. Officials then evacuated Broussard Hall and canceled all classes there while police searched the building. University police contacted the FBI (news - web sites), State Police, and the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Department Intelligence Unit for assistance.

A bomb dog was also brought in to check for explosives, but nothing was found.

Spears said it wasn't the first time Houston had an outburst in class.

"He's always acted a little strange, he's yelled and cursed before, and this time we waited for it to stop, but it never did," Spears says.

Law enforcement officers transported Houston to the Lafayette Parish Coroner's Office to be evaluated for possible involuntary commitment to a mental health facility. In the meantime, Houston has been banned from the university's campus and his faculty duties have been suspended.

University officials said in a statement they would make a final decision about Houston's employment once a full investigation into the incident is complete.

news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=817&u=/ap/20041014/ap_on_fe_st/professor_removed_3&printer=1

Maybe I am just dumb, but why did they take him to the coroner's office?

Quoted: Maybe I am just dumb, but why did they take him to the coroner's office?

Maybe the shrink is the coroner in his spare time?

Well, if he thinks he is God, and has totally lost it, and you want to persuade him to leave class peacefully, perhaps you would tell him we have a dead person in the coroners office and ask if he could kindly come and raise him back to life.  He'd say "Oh, sure" and follow you out of the classroom.