Gunman Assaults Valley Teacher

Los Angeles school police on Monday added security at San Fernando Middle School after a teacher was beaten and robbed at gunpoint late last week by a stranger who entered her classroom after school, officials said.

The teacher, who asked not to be identified, was preparing lesson plans for her sixth-grade special education students about 4:30 p.m. Friday when a man approached her and began striking her on the head and face with a gun, police said.

The man then stole her purse and fled, said Lt. Michael Bowman of the Los Angeles Unified School District Police Department.

“He pistol-whipped her with the weapon and he got away. It was a horrendous thing to happen to somebody,” Bowman said.

Principal Arturo del Rio said that though the victim was still shaken Sunday while recovering from cuts and bruises, she is eager to return to work.

Several faculty members were on campus at the time of the incident preparing for a barbecue for students and parents, but none were aware of the assault, Del Rio said.

Staff members met Monday morning and were “all very concerned and very distressed that anything like this could have happened to a fellow colleague, especially right here on our campus,” he said

The assailant, described as a middle-aged man, remained at large.

The school police department has assigned a second officer to patrol the campus on Brand Boulevard in San Fernando, Bowman said.

A crisis team visited the middle school Monday to help students and staff members deal with emotional stress and security issues.