PEMBROKE PINES, FLA. (WSVN) - An elementary school teacher was attacked by a 5-year-old student while on the job in Pembroke Pines.
According to Pembroke Pines Police, the teacher at Pines Lakes Elementary School was attacked, Wednesday morning.
Fire rescue crews responded to the school, located at 10300 Johnson St., and transported the teacher to Memorial Regional Hospital for treatment and an evaluation.
When a Pembroke Pines Police officer showed up, according to a police report, he found the teacher “sitting on the ground against the wall, on the northside of the room, appearing to be in a faint state.”
The officer said she was in such rough shape that as they waited for rescue to arrive she “continued to blink and breathe regularly, but at no point was able to vocally respond or show signs of a response.”
According to officers, the student responsible for leaving the teacher in this condition was just 5 years old.
“Five years old and they put her in the hospital?” asked a woman in a red face mask.
“How is that possible?” asked a woman with a pink face mask.
“A 5-year-old. that’s like, woah,” said a man in a gray shirt.
“We’re talking about an elementary classroom, a four and a five-year-old, that’s crazy,” said a parent who did not want to be identified but has a child in the class, “because you continuously get this from one student, one, two students, it’s an issue.”
Police said in the report, “The incident began when two students in the classroom, 4 and 5 years old, began throwing things around the classroom and at the teachers along with flipping the chairs.”
More faculty got involved, and they split up the students and took the 5-year-old into another room.
As they were trying to get a handle on the situation, 7News was told they heard the teacher who was in the room with the 5-year-old.
The report read, she “advised on the school radio that she needed support.”
When others got there, they found the teacher “sitting on the ground against the wall on the north-side of the room appearing to be in a faint state.”
Officers then “helped hold her up as she was clearly weak and dazed. She then began coughing and dry heaving.”
She was eventually taken to Memorial Regional Hospital.
“It’s sad,” said Latrice Austin.
Those 7News spoke to are hoping everyone involved gets the help they need.
“I hope she’s OK. That’s awful and hope the parents can get the kids counseling or something,” said the woman in the red face mask.
“She is a sweet teacher. When I say I trust this woman with my child, that’s a second mom. I trust her with my child — amazing woman, and it has me distraught that something like this could happen to her,” said the parent who did not want to be identified.
Police said the incident remains an active criminal investigation but said that charges may be unlikey due to the ages of the children.
Officials said the principal of the school sent out a message to parents and guardians saying there was an incident at the school but at no point were any of the students in the way of any harm.
“This is not the first time that this has happened at this school, in this classroom,” said the parent who did not want to be identified. “I feel like there needs to be the proper support. This is a special needs class, however, they’re not equipped to deal with things like this.”
It remains unclear if the student was taken into custody and whether Child Protective Services was notified.
“Somebody needs to be held accountable, the parents need to be held accountable, the district needs to be held accountable, they dropped the ball,” said the unidentified classroom parent. “There needs to be somebody held accountable for what happened to that teacher. It’s concerning. I feel like it had to get to this point for people to come out and for people to do what they have to do.”
One parent said something needs to be done so that this does not happen again.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.