The principal of Douglass High School was attacked in the school’s parking lot on Tuesday by a man officials do not believe is a student.Some are saying the attack is the result of burgeoning racial tensions on the campus, according to a report on the Website of KWTV News.
After the attack, the principal drove himself to the emergency room, it was reported.
Dr. Brian Staples, who became principal of Douglass High in 2008, was back in his office yesterday.
Police are searching for the man who approached the principal after school at about 3:30 p.m. and began a short conversation with Dr. Staples before using a club or baton to hit him.
Dr. Staples told police he was leaving school when he saw a man crouched beside his car.
He said the man stood up and talked about school activities before hitting him in the legs with a club or a baton.
A spokesman for the school district, Tierney Cook, said in a statement that Dr. Staples’ leg was injured in the attack, but it was not broken.
She also said that the suspected assailant had been seen earlier on campus asking about school activities.
The assailant (who was last seen running westbound away from the scene wearing a dark blue hoodie and dark jeans) is described as Black and in his early 20’s.
The suspect was said to have walked with a slight limp.
“[We are not] going to tolerate this kind of behavior,“ Supt. Karl Springer said.
Shortly after the attack, several people showed up at the school to tell reporters that the suspect’s rage is likely the result of racial tensions between the principal, and the school’s staff and students.
“Everybody is complaining about it,” Elijah Muhammad, an alumnus of Douglass High, said to KWTV reporters.
“So, when someone is so fed up, they boldly attack someone in broad daylight….Yes, that’s serious.”
Mr. Muhammad said he has relatives who attend and work at the school.
He said he was at Douglass High when a group of students and teachers gathered at a church last weekend to address concerns about how Dr. Staples allegedly mistreats Black students and staff-members.
Mr. Muhammad said what escalated the tensions is Dr. Staples’ refusal last week to allow students to attend a Black History Month program.
He said he and others talked to Supt. Springer on Monday, the day before the principal was attacked, about their concerns.
When he was principal of Capitol Hill High School, Dr. Staples was knocked unconscious by a former student and sent to the emergency room.
When he became principal of Douglass High, officials said he was assigned the goal of improving a school that had struggled on state-mandated tests.
Dr. Staples began his career in the school district as a teacher at Northeast High School.
He has served as principal at Taft Middle School, Northeast High, Capitol Hill High and the Northeast Academy of Engineering & Health Sciences.
Also, he has worked in administration capacities in the district office.
