Elementary students kept indoors after staff member hurt in unprovoked attack on school grounds

A staff member at a Wolseley neighbourhood elementary school was assaulted earlier this week in an unprovoked attack.

Winnipeg Police Service spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon said officers were called to Mulvey School at Wolseley Avenue and Maryland Street, at about noon Tuesday.

The educational support worker reported that a man he didn’t know assaulted him while on on the school grounds. No children were present at the time, said McKinnon.

The staffer, who was on a break at the time of the attack, required medical treatment. Police are still investigating the assault and have not yet made any arrests, McKinnon said.

Students stayed inside over the lunch hour out of precaution under hold-and-secure protocols.

Winnipeg School Division superintendent Matt Henderson said the employee is OK.

“It’s very out of the ordinary, and it’s very random in this particular case, so it is very concerning,” said Henderson. “Obviously, our first concern is that employee… and obviously, the safety of the children.”

Henderson said police cleared the area to determine it was safe for kids to go outside later.

“Any time there’s something out in the community that comes onto the grounds of a school, we determine right there whether it’s a hold-and-secure or a lockdown, depending on the situation,” he said.

A parent picking up their child after school Thursday said the incident was indeed concerning.

“This is a small school (and) I thought it was insulated from stuff like that but if you have random people walking off the streets and assaulting staff on school grounds, that’s something that needs to be taken seriously,” said the parent, who asked not to be named.

Other parents at the school approached by the Free Press said they were not made aware of the incident.

The president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union, which represents the support worker, said it was informed about the attack.

“The trauma for this individual, as well as the whole school community, will linger,” president Kyle Ross said in a statement.

”While it is not something these workers deal with every day, when this kind of thing happens it does remind us all to ensure we have protocols in place for what to do to keep everyone safe. Our schools need to be a safe place for everyone — for students, staff and families.”

— with files from Nicole Buffie

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca