MAGGOTTY, St Elizabeth — A school leader here says even as he is frustrated by the lack of fencing amid security concerns at Retirement Primary, students and staff are fearful following the sixth attack by a man said to be of unsound mind, who also reportedly threatened to kill three people there on Tuesday.

Chairman of Retirement Primary School board Herman Samuels told the Jamaica Observer on Wednesday that an ancillary worker was wounded when the machete-wielding man walked onto the school compound on Tuesday about 2:30 pm. The worker reportedly confronted the man and was injured.

“He received injuries to his fingers and his foot. He went to the doctor and he is supposed to be going to make a statement at the police station,” Samuels said.

The attacker is reportedly well known in the Maggotty area as he is said to be the same person who in October 2022 severely injured the school’s then principal.

“Each time he has created trauma. At one point the former principal ended up in the hospital, because of wounds he inflicted on her with a machete to her head; it could have been fatal. Thank God she survived it,” Samuels said.

“He came back several other times including yesterday [Tuesday]. This time he inflicted wounds on one of the ancillary staff and I don’t know how much more we can bear, because he is not living far from the school. The school is not fenced, so he has avenues in which he can access the school compound easily. That is what he has been doing. He has made threatening words that he is going to ‘kill three people over yah’. I don’t know who are the three persons, but that is what he said,” added Samuels.

He explained that the school’s well-needed fencing should be prioritised.

“We are waiting two and a half years going three years for the perimeter fence, which we thought more or less we would have gotten the fence already, because based on the communication with me and the Ministry [of Education] the procurement was secured,” he said.

“As a matter of fact, contractors came here about two months ago. They looked around where the fence is going to be and since the contractors left, we haven’t heard who are the successful bidders and the compound is still left open to the masses of the world and to other people like [this man] who want to hurt the children and teachers and other staff,” he added.

Samuels is questioning why the man has not been detained.

“We are extremely concerned. The police took him to the hospital, because the citizens came down and he got some bruises from the citizens. God forbid if they don’t do something about him to secure him, things might happen that we really don’t want to happen,” he said.

“After the police took him to the hospital they left him there and he is back in the community. The school is unsettled when he is around. Teachers, students and parents are unsettled,” added Samuels.

Head of the St Elizabeth police Superintendent Coleridge Minto confirmed that the police are investigating the incident. He, however, declined to give any further comment on the matter.