( CNN ) Before he was Jihadi John , he was little John -- a young version of the same Mohammed Emwazi who authorities say later became the English-speaking face of ISIS terror . His earlier , innocent image can be seen in video obtained from Britain 's Channel 4 . It shows a teenage boy in the schoolyard of a West London secondary school . He walks through a sea of fellow students in his zippered sweatshirt over his polo shirt , wearing a backpack and carrying a plastic bottle . At one point , a basketball rolls toward him and he returns it with a deft kick . He looks playful at times as when he skips and lightheartedly pushes two other boys , more serious in others . In other words , he appears to be not much different than any other teenager . But he 's not . The boy in the video is Emwazi , his former headmaster at Quintin Kynaston Community Academy told CNN . Who Mohammed Emwazi used to be . Jo Shuter noted that her former student could be shy at times , but overall he was far from a troublemaker and not much out of the ordinary . `` He was bullied a little bit , because he was quiet and reserved , '' Shuter said . `` Generally , he was fine . There ( were ) no issues with him . There were no problems . '' Emwazi became even more focused in his last few years at Quintin Kynaston Community Academy , she said . `` He was working hard , he achieved great grades for him , and he went to the university of his choice , '' Shuter told CNN this week , referring to London 's Westminster University , from which Emwazi graduated in 2009 . Contrast that perception with that of the masked , deep-voiced , British-accented man who months ago was dubbed Jihadi John . There is nothing shy , nothing gentle , nothing playful about him . He starred in grisly ISIS videos depicting the beheading of hostages , punctuating his horrific actions with taunts at the United States . A man who says he is Emwazi 's father told the Kuwaiti newspaper al Qabas that `` there is nothing that proves '' the man known as Jihadi John is his son , Mohammed . His Kuwait-based lawyer , Salem Al-Hashash , told CNN that the family plans to sue anyone who makes the connection , calling the father Jassem Emwazi a `` victim of libel . '' Yet Western authorities have made just such a link . They say that the Kuwaiti-born Mohammed Emwazi went from being a typical `` boy next door '' type growing up in West London to being one of the most high-profile recruits of ISIS , the Islamist extremist group behind a campaign of terror and conquest in Syria and Iraq . More than a dozen British administrative court documents obtained by CNN indicate that , as far back as 2009 , British security services believed Emwazi was part of a radical West London recruitment network for terrorist groups in East Africa . And in late February , two U.S. officials and two U.S. congressional sources confirmed reports in British and other media that Emwazi went on to join ISIS and is the man known as Jihadi John .
Video shows a young EmwaziMohammed Emwazi in a West London schoolyard . He covers his face at times , skips and playfully jostles with students at others . U.S. authorities say Mohammed Emwazi grew up to be the ISIS terrorist known as Jihadi John .