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Posted on 06/14/2002 7:14:01 AM PDT by thefactor
A substitute teacher picked up a broom and went berserk in a first-grade Washington Heights classroom yesterday-whacking children in a wild melee that sent 20 kids to the hospital bloody and bruised, cops said.
Mom Beatrice Balbuena comforts Angel Rodriguez, 7, who holds bruise on his head he received ... Danilo Nunez, 59, freaked out after he waded into the middle of a crayon-tossing fight between pupils in his class in Room 101 at Public School 4 on W. 160th St. at Amsterdam Ave., police said.
The children screamed for help as Nunez swung the broom, pummeled them with his fists and grabbed their heads and ears about 2 p.m., cops and kids said.
"The substitute teacher was acting crazy, he was hitting people with a broom," said Joshua Perdomo, 6, who escaped with a small cut on his face.
... when substitute teacher Danilo Nunez allegedly attacked first-graders at PS 4. As Nunez lashed out at a few of the children, others rushed to the defense of their friends, further enraging the sub from hell, the kids said.
He even threatened to pull off his belt and whip the terrified 6- and 7-year-olds, shaken children said.
"I was so scared. When he hit me, I was crying," said Michelle Holguin, 7, wearing a green hospital bracelet last night.
"Everyone was shouting and crying," she said. "He was a big man and he looked crazy."
A school security guard and other teachers raced into the room to break up the fracas.
Bleeding from head and arm wounds, the children were loaded into ambulances and taken to Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, where they were met by frightened and furious parents.
Twenty students were treated for minor injuries and released.
Nunez, a licensed sub who worked 67 days this academic year, was facing multiple assault counts last night.
He was fired and placed on an "ineligible list" to prevent him from ever working in a city school, said Catie Marshall, a spokeswoman for the Board of Education.
Angry parents planned to meet with school officials at 9 a.m. today to discuss the attack and seek to prevent future incidents. Crisis counselors were planning to meet with pupils.
"These are first-grade children," said Daisy Gutierrez, the school's PTA president. "I can't imagine what made him snap."
Had Worked in Bronx
Officials said Nunez, who lives in the Bronx, had worked for most of the year as a substitute at several Bronx high schools before recently moving to elementary schools in School District 6 in upper Manhattan.
As school officials scheduled a meeting about the rampage for today, parents expressed anger and shock.
Anna Martinez, 37, got a call at work telling her to go to the hospital to find her son, Joshua.
"I send my son to school thinking he's safe and look what happens," said Martinez.
Last night, 7-year-old Angel Rodriguez's mother stroked her son's head, which sported a nasty bruise.
"He hit me with the broom and he pushed me on the floor," a visibly shaken Angel said. "He slapped me two times."
"This is an outrage," said the boy's mother, Beatrice Balbuena, 31. "It doesn't make any sense."
With Alison Gendar, Martin Mbugua, Richard Weir and Joe Williams
How much do you want to bet that the teachers' union fights his dismissal?
1. He cannot be fired (union rules).
2. He is paid somewhere between $ 40 and $ 90 an hour (union rules)
3. His lawyer will get him off (paid for by the union).
4. He's a life-long Democrat.
What have I left out?
This would be funny if it weren't so sad. ANYBODY who really thinks that their children are safe at school is NOT living in the real world. Now then, with THAT said, I can't help but wonder if the teacher just "snapped" or if he was, perchance, set upon himself by the majority of the class for attempting to break up the "crayon fight". Things that make you go hmmm....
6. He is an undocumented alien.
7. "Due diligence"(LOL) in his hiring eliminated dozens of good people.
What's a childless woman doing as president of the PTA?
It's okay, she is gay and represents a diverse example for the children. (None of the parents are gay so.....)
Shameless homeschool bump!!!
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