Maeve Bidonde, Staff Writer
On April 17, a Pennbrook Middle School student was bludgeoned with a stanley cup and parents want answers. The attacker was a new transfer student at Pennbrooke who, after only a few days, developed a hit list of students she planned to target. Five hours before the attack, students had told staff about this planned attack and even counselors. But, oddly enough, the school didn’t take action.
The attack occurred during lunch time at Pennbrook Middle School. Students said that the strike was so hard they heard the sound of the stanley cup bouncing off the victim’s skull as she was assaulted with it. The victim bled heavily before she was taken to the hospital, received stitches, and was put on a concussion watch.
The school was placed in an eight-minute lockdown as paramedics and the police showed up on the scene. During that lockdown, the students who witnessed the attack had to stay in the cafeteria. Students recall the staff cleaning up the blood from the attack so they won’t feel uncomfortable. Students called their parents in tears after the assault, causing them to become understandably worried. When the students left school later that day, they cried in their parents’ arms.
The evening after the assault, a forum was held for parents to voice both their concern and displeasure with the assault. According to CBS News, a statement was given by Stephanie Palovcak, a school district parent, that the students were worried for their friend. “I saw tons of kids come out those doors into their parents’ arms hysterically crying, scared, sad for what happened to their friend. They shouldn’t have had to witness this. I just want answers,” Palovack had expressed. Students even spoke at the forum as well.
One student in particular went to the forum and chastised the school board for not heeding the warning they were given hours before the attack. “I don’t get how you couldn’t have stopped it,” the student said according to Fox News. “It was five hours from when I told you it was going to happen and when it happened. It was five full hours. I don’t get how you couldn’t have stopped it.’’ She said she spoke to a counselor about the accused student’s alleged ‘hit list,’on which she said she was told not to worry because it wasn’t going to happen and they had things under control.
The student who spoke at the form further describes hearing the banging sounds of the stanley cup bouncing off the victim’s head as the attacker kept shouting that she would murder the victim. The student also describes seeing the attacker slam the victim’s head into the cafeteria table repeatedly after hitting the victim with the cup. Since this attack, the student has transferred schools. Pennbrook Middle School next steps to handle this outrage are yet to be seen.
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