Lawsuit claims teacher brought swords to school to have students fight one another

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A lawsuit has been filed nearly two years after a young girl was injured during a sword fight in her classroom in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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A lawsuit was filed on Feb. 23 by a teenage girl’s grandparents, her permanent guardians, according to CBS News. The student was only identified as N.S.

N.S. alleges that her nerves and tendons were cut with a sword during a sword fight at Volcano Vista High School, NBC News reported. The incident happened on May 2, 2022. The student reportedly has permanent damage in her wrist from the incident which required her to undergo surgery, KRQE reported.

One of the swords was katana-style with a “long, curved blade and sharp edge,” according to the lawsuit, CBS News reported. The other one was a rapier-style sword.

“D.M. struck N.S. across her right forearm, wrist, and hand with the katana-style sword,” said Jessica Hernandez, one of the student’s attorneys, according to NBC News. “N.S. suffered a large and deep laceration across her right hand and wrist that is inconsistent with a ‘prop’ sword.”

Albuquerque Public Schools, Assistant Principal Manuel Alzaga and former chemistry teacher Loviata Mitchell were named as defendants in the lawsuit, according to NBC News.

The lawsuit claims the teacher told the students she had a “surprise,” KRQE reported. She then brought out two swords. The teacher then reportedly put on a timer, had students clear their desks and then had the students take turns fighting one another. Some of the sword fighting was caught on cellphone video.

“We don’t know what was going through her mind. We had no idea what would cause a teacher to think this was a good idea,” Hernandez said, according to the news outlet.

The assistant principal claimed, according to an incident report obtained by KRQE, that the teacher brought the swords in to teach students about the science behind metal.

“Not only did this teacher and APS not protect this child, but actively put her in harm’s way, actively created this danger, and put deadly weapons right into these student’s hands and exactly what could reasonably be anticipated is what happened,” Hernandez said.

According to the lawsuit, that Mitchell is no longer a teacher at the high school, CBS News reported.

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