VINCENNES, Ind. (AP): Police in southwestern Indiana have arrested a 16-year-old boy, saying he badly beat a high school teacher who was left semiconscious.

Vincennes Police Chief Dusty Luking says the teacher was in stable condition at an Evansville hospital’s intensive care unit following the attack Wednesday afternoon at Lincoln High School.

Luking tells the Vincennes Sun-Commercial that the teenager was being held in a youth detention center on preliminary charges including attempted murder. Luking and school officials haven’t released the teacher’s name.

Officials say the teenager is a special-needs student who re-entered the school after dismissal and attacked the teacher. They say high school staffers had subdued the student before police officers arrived.

Luking says a decision hasn’t been made on whether the boy will face adult or juvenile charges.