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Boy With Autism Taunted, Slapped By Female Student In Lancaster

LANCASTER (CBSLA)  --  Cellphone video of a female student slapping and taunting another student who has autism is going viral.

The disturbing video shows the unidentified student first mocking the boy and making fun of the way he walks, talks, behaves, even the clothes he wears. All the while she is cursing.

She then wheels and slaps the boy hard in the face. He reacts and tries to hit her back but his punch doesn't land.

Meanwhile, other students (after initially laughing at the incident) get between the two and pull them apart, presumably ending the fracas.

The incident reportedly happened Thursday at Lancaster High School. A student recorded the confrontation and posted it on Twitter.

KCAL9's Chris Holmstrom said the video outraged both students and parents.

"There are two stories," said sophomore Samantha Tirada, "one story said she was rude, the other is that his clothes smelled bad. And she felt the need to say something and he got upset and started arguing with her."

Tirada said regardless of the reason, she thinks the girl was clearly in the wrong.

"It's wrong," she said, "you shouldn't do that. There's no logical reason to bully someone for something they have no control over."

Victoria Jimenez, a parent, was also concerned: "My initial reaction is that I just don't see anyone (of authority) around. And I even just see the other kids backing away and just watching and feeding it."

The Lancaster Sheriff's Station issued the following statement:

"[We are] aware of a video circulating social media involving an incident that occurred at one of our local high schools yesterday morning. Our school resource deputy was on campus at the time of incident and handled the situation immediately. Our investigation is currently ongoing."

The school district did not want to comment on specifics about what happened but Dr. David Vierra, superintendent for Antelope Valley High Schools, issued a statement that read in part:

"We became aware of this matter shortly after it occurred and responded immediately. This type of behavior is not tolerated at any of our schools. Appropriate action has been taken with the parties involved by both the school and law enforcement..."

The incident is under investigation.

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