Student charged with assaulting 4 at Australian university

Police tape is strung across the entrance to a classroom at the Australian National University following an attack, Friday, Aug. 25, 2017, in Canberra, Australia. A student was detained by police after assaulting his teacher and three of his fellow students with a baseball bat on Friday in a classroom at the Australian National University, police said. (AP Photo/Rod McGuirk)

CANBERRA, Australia — A Canberra court has ordered an 18-year-old student to undergo a mental health assessment after he was charged with attacking his teacher and three of his fellow students with a baseball bat at one of Australia’s most prestigious universities.

Alex Ophel was charged in the Australian Capital Territory Magistrates Court on Saturday with several violent offenses including intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm, which carries a potential maximum of 20 years in prison, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, which carries a maximum five-year sentence.

Police say Ophel stood up from his seat in an Australian National University classroom armed with a bat and attacked the teacher and three students on Friday.

The four victims were hospitalized with serious but non-life threatening injuries, including broken bones.