School evacuated after teacher’s aide allegedly runs amok on campus
A Van Nuys Elementary School was evacuated after a teacher’s aide grabbed and kicked fellow staff members and threw chairs that injured three students, officials said. The employee was arrested on suspicion of assault.
After arriving at the school Monday morning, the aide ran from her car onto campus, banged on classroom doors, threw papers in the air and climbed on top of a table, witnesses told KTLA. Students said she was screaming at the wall, her arms flailing.
Cellphone video of the evacuation shows children running off campus as an emergency bell rang.
“Due to a safety concern, we had to contact school police, Los Angeles Fire Department and the paramedics,” according to a phone message left for parents by school Principal Franne Goldstein.
The teacher’s aide, identified by police as Linda Hovanec, was taken to the Van Nuys police station, where she was booked on suspicion of assault, according to LAPD Sgt. Steve Gottschalk.
In a letter sent home to parents Monday, school administrators said that “those involved were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, and the employee will not be returning to our school.”
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