Parents accused of attacking students, staff in Pa. school
PHILADELPHIA - A mother and father are accused of assaulting ten students as well as teachers and a school police officer in a Philadelphia elementary school Tuesday, reports CBS Philly.
Eyewitnesses tell the station it all began with an argument between students at Jay Cooke Elementary School and then escalated when one of the students texted her parents. The parents are alleged to have then taken matters into their own hands.
Sierrah Edwards, a student who was present during the incident, told CBS Philly the parents arrived at the school and came into a classroom to confront one of their daughter's classmates. But in the end, according to the station, as many as 10 students and 3 staffers, including the school police officer, were assaulted.
"I got pushed, I got tossed by other people trying to get to the fight," the child told the station.
"My friend, she was getting stomped by everybody in every which way and my teacher, today, her arm was swollen and she couldn't move it. She got scratches and cuts on it," Sierrah continued.
The girl's mother, Regina Cooper, wonders how the situation was able to escalate like it did.
"How are these parents able to get to the third floor of the school, they bypassed the office to get to the third floor," Cooper told the station.
School District spokesman Fernando Gallard explained that the parents were let into the school because the school had "an event open to parents."
Officials maintain the school police officer was present and tried to prevent the confrontation, to no avail. Edwards isn't surprised, according to the station. She claims the officer was the only security personnel on site and this, in her opinion, is proof the school needs to do more.
Gallard says the school district is going to reexamine safety procedures at the school.
Police say they have identified the parents involved in the incident and are in the process of working with the district attorney's office to make an arrest in the case.