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School rampage leaves five injured
School security has become a major issue A GROUP of round 25 club wielding youths yesterday barged into a Limassol school and going on a rampage that left five people injured including two who needed hospital treatment.
According to reports, a 16-year-old student at the 3rd Technical School had received a phone call, prior to the incident, telling him he will be beaten.
It was just after noon when some 25 individuals, including students from a different school, and some non-students entered the Technical School wielding clubs and metal rods.
Some of the group arrived at the school in three cars and entered the building.
When they spotted the 16-year-old in a corridor they pounced on him and started to beat him, reports said.
“They shoved him on the floor, and then a dozen of these youths gathered around and started battering him,” one parent told newsmen.
“It’s unacceptable…we just don’t know what to do,” another said.
Reports said that over the previous days the 16-year-old had received threatening text messages on his mobile.
The motive behind the assault is said to be bad blood over a recent Futsal match between the two schools.
Two other students who tried to help the teen him were also assaulted, as was a female teacher trying break up the fracas.
While leaving the school grounds, the perpetrators hit another teacher who was trying to keep his students away.
The disturbances were over in a few minutes, eyewitnesses said. But horrified parents rushed to both the school and the hospital when they heard the news.
The 16-year-old and another student were treated at first aid, mainly for wounds on the face, arms and legs.
Polemidhia police are investigating. No arrests have been made, although a number of youths have been called in for questioning.
The incident again raises questions over security on school grounds. Police say they simply do not have the resources to place guards or patrol every school.
A spate of similar, though less serious, incidents occurred in February and March, with both students and teachers attacked in the classroom by outsiders.
