NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A Metro school employee said he was fired for defending himself against three separate attacks by a Whites Creek student.

Video: Fired School Employee Says Student Attacked Him

Tom Kovach said he has used his hands as a signer, martial artist, military policeman and self-defense instructor and that he used all of those skills after a student at Whites Creek was yelling in the library.

He said the student didn't even do an hour of in-school suspension.

Kovach said he told the student five times to “hush or leave.”

“Again, I had my hands on the keyboard, I’m looking at the computer screen and all of a sudden a blur appears in my vision. The kids trying to slap me. … I just rotated my arm and (caught it), and snatched his wrist. The key thing I remember he said is ‘Get on this man.’ He didn’t say, ‘Get this man off me,’ he said to them to jump on me,” Kovach said.

Kovach said he escorted the boy to the office and that's when Kovach let him go, “He starts flailing and jumping and using profanity. … He’s like, going crazy. So, another faculty member saw this and moved up next to me and we just plowed into him… And what does he do? He finds an umbrella on the countertop and he reaches on the counter and gets this umbrella and now he’s poking it at my face. I just grabbed the umbrella and pulled it straight back.”

Kovach was fired by Nashville schools for abuse of a child, he said.

Kovach said the child was uninjured and asked what was he supposed to do.

“No matter what the situation, the correct response for an adult staff member is to throw both hands straight up into the air, turn your back to the student and yell ‘Get away,’ and then you leave,” Kovach said.

Metro schools said because the case is under appeal they cannot comment but issued a statement.

"We would never expect an employee to stand there and take it. They can call out for help or defend themselves until help arrives. It’s a common sense policy,” said Metro Schools spokeswoman Diane Long.