RICHMOND, Va. – A Virginia high school teacher was recorded by students having an emotional breakdown after he was allegedly repeatedly threatened with violence.

The George Wythe High School teacher, who was not identified, was recorded by student cell phones recently as stormed out his classroom in frustration over disruptive students. The students recording the teacher followed him into the hallway, hooping and hollering behind him as he paced briefly, WTVR reports.

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Moments later, he returned to the classroom to give students a piece of his mind.

“I have been threatened multiple times,” the teacher screamed at students. “I don’t come here to put my life in danger from other people’s nonsense. I don’t go home, go to sleep, then come to work and expect to be threatened …

“I don’t deserve it,” the teacher yelled.

The video was blurred out by news media to protect the identity of the minor students, but parents and teachers are coming to the teacher’s defense, claiming that gang activity in local schools has created chaos.

“I feel like the kids need to come to school learn and not to badger or fight other students as well as teachers,” said parent Adline Martin, whose son was in the neighboring classroom during the outburst. “He’s been a good teacher, as far as I know, and he’s always been there for students if they needed him to be there.”

The incident prompted a temporary school lockdown, but Martin contends it’s students, not the teacher, who are causing the commotion.

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“That’s why it’s so hard for us to get teachers to teach good kids trying to learn – like my son,” she said.

Richmond school board member Kim Gray said she believes the incident is a symptom of a rising tide of violence tied to gang activity in the district.

“It’s just heart-wrenching to see our employees have to endure the taunting,” Gray said.

“We’re seeing all of the gang activity within all of our comprehensive high schools,” she added. “It’s spilling into the middle schools and some of the elementary schools as well.”

Gray said Richmond students have been involved with 140 incidents, several involving very serious crimes.

“The level of violence ranged from capital murder of an officer to rape and sodomy to armed robbery to drug activity,” she said. “The same kinds of crimes were seeing in the community our students are committing.”

District officials said the teacher’s recorded outburst is under investigation, but the district superintendent refused to discuss the incident with WTVR.

Folks online were shocked that students appeared to push their teacher to a nervous breakdown.

“That’s just horrible,” Celestina Luna wrote. “If I were a parent to one of the students I’d be so embarrassed.”

“No one should be treated this way,” Michael Porter added.

“Nasty hateful brats,” Susan Winters posted, “this is why no one wants to teach.”