By Peter Sorkin
The boy, whose name was not released, allegedly used the stun gun to shoot five of his schoolmates at about 1 p.m. in a stairwell of IS 93, 66-56 Forest Ave., said Officer Theresa Farello, a Police Department spokeswoman.
The five students were taken to Wyckoff Hospital and were treated and released, Farello said. She said police did not know how the student obtained the weapon and were investigating the incident.
Officials at the school, which has 1,800 students in grades six through eight, could not be reached for comment.
One of the students who was shocked with the stun gun said in an interview Monday morning that he was not seriously hurt and did not know the boy who attacked him. He also said he was not afraid to attend school because he did not think it will happen again.
“I didn't know who he was,” said Juan. “We weren't friends. I'm not scared to go back, though.”
Juan described the device as black and the size of the palm of a hand. He said the weapon had two pincerlike devices at the end of it.
A seventh grade teacher at IS 93 who has been teaching at the school for two years and asked not to be identified said she knew of the incident but thought school officials and police reacted appropriately.
“I was very surprised,” she said. “I knew that the police were called right away and as far as I know, the school took care of it. Most of the teachers were kind of surprised, but I'm happy for the way the situation was handled.”
Another teacher who has been working at IS 93 for more than three decades said she had never heard of such an incident happening in her school.
“This school is so well run and so safe,” said the teacher who preferred not to give her name. “I myself have never felt unsafe. A lot of us are shocked, if you pardon the expression, but from what I know and from what I heard about it, it was really handled appropriately.”
The teacher said she does not fear for any of the other students' or teachers' safety because she thinks the stun gun attack was an isolated incident.
“If you had a kid, you would not hesitate to send him or her to this school,” she said. “We have a very caring staff and we are really there for these kids. Really, I have nothing but the highest praise for this school.”
