UPDATE: Cedar Rapids student charged after pushing teacher, threatening students

Police said the incident started when a 12-year-old boy sitting in class started to sing a rap song about guns and killing people.

It reached another level when he pushed a teacher.

Taft Middle School student Eric Nduwayesu, 12, of Cedar Rapids, was arrested Tuesday afternoon for simple assault. Police allege that he pushed 66-year-old Selma Brigham in a hallway.

According to the police report, Nduwayesu was causing a disturbance in a classroom by singing the song. He went into a hallway toward his locker and was holding his hands like he would a gun, pretending to shoot other students, police said.

“”He was making the gun sounds,” Sgt. Cristy Hamblin said. “I'm not sure if it was ‘pop-pop-pop' or ‘bang-bang.'”

Brigham told Nduwayesu he could not go to his locker, and then she blocked his locker when he did not obey. Brigham told police she was afraid Nduwayesu might have been trying to get a weapon.

Nduwayesu told Brigham to move, and then pushed her, police said. She sent him to the office, and followed him there. Police said Nduwayesu continued his singing while in the office.

Hamblin said Nduwayesu is a special needs student, but that does not excuse his behavior. He was charged and transported to the Linn County Juvenile Detention Center.