Wednesday, April 25, 2001
A 10-year-old gifted boy said to call himself “brother of Satan” who has terrorized two Brooklyn schools was barred from classes yesterday, officials said.
The fourth-grader was kept in seclusion yesterday after he allegedly threatened to kill classmates at Public School 236 in Mill Basin — reportedly the second time in a month he had made such a threat.
Schools Chancellor Harold Levy said only that the school district “is making arrangements for alternative instruction” for the boy. A high-placed school official said that the youngster most likely would not be allowed to return to PS 236.
The boy, described as bright and enrolled in the Eagle Program for gifted students, had no prior school disciplinary record, but apparently began to unravel in late March.
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On March 28, he was booted from PS 207 in Marine Park after allegedly threatening to kill several children in his class. At that time, one parent said, the boy referred to himself as the “brother of Satan” and warned classmates “not to make me go home and get my father’s gun.”
The parent, whose daughter allegedly was among those threatened, said the boy told classmates that they are “going to be with him in hell.”
At least 50 parents at PS 207 signed a petition demanding that the boy be barred from class. When officers went to the boy’s house, they found a .357 Ruger handgun licensed to his father, police said.
The Daily News is withholding the youngster’s name because of his age. Contacted at their neatly tended Marine Park house, the boy’s parents refused to discuss the case.
It could not be determined whether school officials complied with federal regulations requiring that students who make such threats undergo a psychological evaluation.
Last Thursday, the boy was quietly transferred to PS 236. But his reputation apparently followed him. “Parents were warned through the grapevine that he had been transferred,” said parent Michael Cava.
The fourth-grader had been in his new school only one day when he again threatened to bring a gun to school and kill someone, parents said.
That same day someone circulated a flyer to parents, urging them to keep their kids out of school as long as the child was allowed to attend.
The flyer proclaimed that the 10-year-old had “created a ‘Hit-List’ of children he wanted to ‘Kill’! He described the weapon (gun) he would use for this massacre in great detail. … No one is safe!”
Saul Needle, president of School Board 22, called the flyer “irresponsible,” saying it “inflamed a tense and emotional situation.” The origin of the flyer wasn’t known.
As alarm spread among parents, 317 of the school’s 650 students missed classes on Monday. Yesterday, 100 were absent.
Outside PS 236 yesterday, fifth-grader A.J. Truisi said he had played football with the boy Friday. “He was actually really nice,” A.J. said. “He just got mad and didn’t know how to handle it.”
A.J.’s mother, Christine Truisi, said, “I think a lot of parents bashed a 10-year-old boy without knowing all the facts.”
Most parents, however, were demanding answers. They were fuming that neither District Superintendent John Comer nor Principal Mary Barton attended a meeting Monday night to discuss the issue.
“The depth and the level of frustration in the audience was palpable. Parents were demanding answers,” Needle said.
With Nancie L. Katz
and Michael O. Allen
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