Bronx student shot after dispute over school suspension
NBC New York - A student at Bronxwood Preparatory Academy plans to sue the Department of Education after being shot while on the street, following a dispute with a secretary over bathroom privileges, the I-Team has learned.
NBC New York – A student at Bronxwood Preparatory Academy plans to sue the Department of Education after being shot while on the street, following a dispute with a secretary over bathroom privileges, the I-Team has learned.
Maurice Jones, 17, is battling multiple sclerosis and a side effect of some of his treatment is incontinence, but he said his frequent requests to use the bathroom at Bronxwood met with harassment by a secretary who held the key.
Jones had notes from doctors confirming his problem, but after an outburst over the issue last fall — where Jones threw a bag of cookies — he was suspended from school.
It didn’t last.
After a hearing with the Department of Education, Jones was reinstated, the suspension overturned and all record of it expunged.
He returned to school on November 7th and in between classes asked the secretary for the bathroom key.
“She told me I wasn’t supposed to be in school because I was on suspension,” said Jones. “She said she was going to call security if I don’t leave.”
Jones said he wanted to avoid another altercation with the secretary, so he left the school and was walking along White Plains Blvd near 228th street when a bullet struck his abdomen.
“I was walking down the street. I didn’t even know what happened,” said Jones. “Crossfire.”
NYPD confirmed Jones was not the intended victim and the shooter has been arrested. The bullet pierced Jones’ colon and nicked his spinal cord.
“Every day I think, what if I would have never left,” said Jones, who is now fighting partial paralysis.
“The secretary acted far in excess of what her duties are,” said Jones’ lawyer, Frank Cassisi. “When she told him, either you leave or I’ll call security because you don’t belong here, that’s where the error started.”
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