A Barton Community College student who was taken into custody after a “physical altercation” with a teacher on Tuesday was upset about a grade on a final exam, Sheriff Brian Bellendir said.
The student, 26-year-old Jacob Flax, of Otis, was evaluated by the Center for Counseling and remained in custody Wednesday morning. The Barton County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Kansas Highway Patrol and college security in restraining Flax.
BCSO officers were dispatched to the Technical Building of the college around 2 p.m. Tuesday, for a disturbance in progress.
Bellendir said the student was agitated and accosted a female faculty member.
“Evidently (Flax) began throwing chairs and damaging other property,” Bellendir said in a news release Wednesday. After the altercation with the teacher, “he was restrained by other staff and faculty and was removed to the security director’s office and remained there until the arrival of Sheriff’s Deputies. The suspect was placed under arrest without incident and taken into custody.
“Investigation indicates this was a physical confrontation only — no weapons were involved,” Bellendir continued. “It appears any injuries, if any, will be very minor.”
BCC spokesman Brandon Steinert issued a news release Wednesday regarding Barton’s safety efforts.
“The student has been incarcerated and is not expected to be released anytime soon. Students, faculty and staff are safe,” he said.
 “The primary objective of Barton’s Campus Safety personnel was to remove the student from the public area. The student was moved to an office where a Campus Safety employee attempted to defuse the situation. The employee contacted authorities and had additional staff on hand to minimize the student’s contact with the public.
 “If the situation had not been contained, or if it was determined that there was danger to employees, students or the public, the campus emergency notification system would have been activated. The situation was contained, therefore campus wide notification was not necessary.
 “As mentioned before, those involved did not require medical attention or hospitalization. No weapons were involved.”