Fear & Loathing in Richmond

Fear because this is frightening stuff.

Loathing because these thugs are lower than low.

And Richmond because Irma Anderson said that there are supposed to be "SAFE STREETS NOW."

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Gunfire terrifies students on first day in classroom

By Kimberly S. Wetzel
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Two bullets whizzed through a Richmond elementary school classroom where students were taking a test on the first day of school Monday, with one round traveling through a wall and into a playground where about 280 students were playing at recess.

Nystrom Elementary, at 230 Harbour Way, was caught in the middle of the 12:30 p.m. gunfire, which police said came from men in one car chasing another car on the east side of the school. No one at the school was hurt.

"We're outraged by this blatant disregard for the safety of both our citizens and children," Richmond police Lt. Mark Gagan said.

Wendy Holmes, in her first school day on the job as Nystrom's principal, said she heard about nine shots around lunchtime. She used a megaphone to bring the children inside and ordered everyone to take shelter in place until police arrived.

The children were released from school at the normal time after police determined there was no additional threat, Gagan said.

"It is concerning on the first day of school for these kind of things to happen," Holmes said. "We need to reassure our students and parents that this is a safe place for children."

Holmes said the school staff held an emergency meeting Monday afternoon to discuss whether the right measures had been taken and how to bolster safety at the school, which is near a notoriously violent area.

A school notice will be sent home today alerting parents about the shooting and the measures the school, which serves students in kindergarten through the sixth grade, is taking to improve safety, Holmes said.

Parents who saw the police cars outside the school Monday and milled about the front of the campus demanding to know what happened were not happy.

"It's scary," said Amanda Archuleta, mother of 6-year-old Jasmyne Allen, a first-grader. "It's not something that I as a parent should have to worry about. (Jasmyne) probably won't be coming back here tomorrow."

Officials said the shooting happened when three men in a 2000 or 2001 light- or champagne-colored Cadillac were chasing another car on the east side of the school near 12th Street and Maine Avenue. The men fired several rounds of a small-caliber handgun at the other car.

Two bullets entered an English Learner Support Services classroom, where four high school students were taking a test under the supervision of three teachers.

One of the bullets struck a metal laminator in the room, and the other exited through a wall and landed in the middle of the student-filled playground, Gagan said.

"More than anything else, it frightened the devil out of the students in the classroom," Richmond police Capt. Cleveland Brown said. One of the students was too shaken to complete the test and went home, Brown said.

Several students questioned about the incident said they heard the gunshots and that their teachers ordered them to hit the ground.

West Contra Costa Unified School District spokesman Paul Ehara said he believes the incident marks the first time gunshots have penetrated a district school.

The Richmond Police Department is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

"This is something that we've decided to get on top of," Brown said. "It is critical the community steps forward to tell us who put our children at risk."

Anyone with information should contact Lt. Shawn Pickett at 510-620-6613. Anonymous tips can be left at 510-232-8477.

Reach Kimberly S. Wetzel at 510-262-2798 or kwetzel@cctimes.com.