Bullet in classroom, teacher grazed

A teacher was shot in the shoulder by a stray bullet while her class was in session, shortly after 10 am on Wednesday, at the South East Port of Spain Secondary School (SEPOS).

Reports say a Form Two student in the class the teacher was teaching may have also been struck by fragments.

Colleagues called an ambulance, which took the teacher to the Port of Spain General Hospital.

Other teachers called the police. They arrived shortly after and cordoned off the area.

The TT Unified Teachers Association confirmed the incident and said this was too close for comfort.

The association said preliminary reports indicate the bullet was not lodged in the teacher's flesh but may have grazed her.

“Grazed, lodged, that is too much going on. Just as an ambulance was called today it could have been the forensic department coming to collect a body and that is not what we want.”

A TTUTA rep said this is not the first time bullets have been found at the school, and the area is prone to violence.

“SEPOS has had its challenges because of where it is located and when there is violence downtown, it finds its way into the school compound.

“Bullets have been found in the guard booths, and in the walls of the school already. This one on Wednesday made its way through the wall and into a human who had nothing to do with what was going on outside of the wall and that is the problem.

“Neither the teacher or students were targets but it is the violence that is happening outside the school that has not entered into the school wall.”

TTUTA said while the association knows it is impossible to have a police officer on the doorstep, when such incidents start to take place, teachers start asking for this kind of support.

TTUTA said the complement of security at the school is minimal and the Ministry of Education and other stakeholders need to find a different kind of protocol for dealing with schools in these high-risk areas.

Newsday visited the school at 11 am and students were milling about as normal and there was no sign of police presence. A security officer at the school said that no one was being allowed inside until futher notice.

One woman told Newsday she heard multiple shots but she thought the shooting occurred at Upper Nelson Street and not at the school. The other residents interviewed said they were not there at the time or had not heard anything.

Reporting by Julien Neaves