Media Release
Umbakumba school incident
Thursday 22 September 2005
At Umbakumba school today a young man came into the school grounds carrying an axe, which he immediately used to break the windows of two Department of Employment, Education and Training (DEET) four-wheel drive vehicles parked there.
The young man did not approach or attempt to assault any staff or students during the incident. Staff stayed in the school building and called police at Alyangula who arrived shortly afterwards and took the young man into custody.
Community members went to the school soon after the incident, apologised to staff and offered their support. The young man’s parents and grandmother also went to the school and apologised.
The young man is the same person who was involved in an incident at the school on Thursday 1 September and was on bail at the time of today’s incident.
The school has been closed until further notice pending assessment of the situation by senior DEET staff.
The General Manager Schools for East Arnhem, Peter Clarke, spoke to the staff today and asked them to return to Alyangula, where they are accommodated. He will discuss the situation with them tomorrow as part of the process to determine the way ahead for the school.
Members of the Umbakumba Community, the school community and police have been most supportive in this incident and counselling will be offered to staff and others who may have been affected.
Safety and wellbeing of teachers and staff continues to be of paramount importance to DEET.