Faleata College ambushed

By Diedre Fanene 24 March 2016, 12:00AM

Students at Faleata College returned to school nervously yesterday after an incident, which left them badly shaken and horrified on Tuesday.

The school was ambushed by a group of young people who threw rocks and other elements at the school building, forcing the students and teachers to run for their lives.

The attack was caught on camera. 

It shows moments of panic when some students were screaming for help during the attack, which happened during the second period of the day. The students were sent home immediately.

When the Samoa Observer visited yesterday, we found that many students did not turn up to school at all.

Principal Tanuvasa Michael Gray said the Police are investigating the attack.

 “All I can say is that we were very shocked when we were attacked yesterday,” he said.

 “It was early in the morning, and at that time I was with two of my teachers when I heard the students screaming.

“I thought to myself what is happening out there. I left my office and I went outside and saw that the students had scattered all over the place.”

Tanuvasa said he could sense the fear among the students.

“They were panicking and they were scared,” he said.

“[And] then I saw rocks flying towards us. I asked some students and they said there was a fight.

“The teachers were not aware of the incident because they were in the classrooms teaching but they only came out when the rocks starting hitting the roof of the building.”

In tears, Tanuvasa said his heart sank when he saw the look of fear in the faces of his students.

 “My only concern was the safety of the students and that’s why I let them go home early,” he said.

“It was unexpected and never in my life did I think that we were going to go through this, especially the students.

“[But] I thank God that nobody was hurt.”

Tanuvasa said four young men were caught by the Police and taken in for questioning.

 “All I can say is the people that did this were not from here,” he said. “I don’t know who they are.

“The police have apprehended four of them and were taken directly to the police office at Tuanaimato.

“That is as far as I can go with information today but I’ll be happy to talk once the police release the information.”

By Diedre Fanene 24 March 2016, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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