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Superintendent Responds To Assault, Complaint Minneapolis School Is A 'Prison'

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- There were new developments Thursday in the brutal attack of a Minneapolis public schools employee.

Forty-nine-year-old Mohammed Dukuly remains in critical condition at Hennepin County Medical Center, but is showing signs of improvement.

Mohammed Dukuly hospital
(credit: Mohammed Dukuly)

He was attacked by 18-year-old Corey Burfield, a senior at Harrison Educational Center. The teenager is charged with two counts of assault.

On Thursday, a judge released Burfield from jail, but he is required to wear a home monitoring device and stay away from the victim.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freemen spoke about the case to reporters.

"In his first appearance today, Mr. Burfield acknowledged he has mental illness and is on medication and getting counsel," Freeman said. "We feel for him and try to work with him on these issues. But we cannot have this kind of violence in our schools."

This is not the first time a student has attacked and injured a staff member at Harrison.

Cory Burfield
Cory Burfield (credit: Hennepin County)

In the aftermath of the attack, school district leaders are looking at the challenges they face.

Superintendent Ed Graff spoke publicly about the incident for the first time Thursday.

"This has been a very difficult situation," he said. "I am deeply, deeply concerned for the safety and well-being of all our students and staff in Minneapolis Public Schools."

The superintendent says he's visited Mohammed Dukuly in the hospital.

Relatives say he is now able to talk, but he doesn't remember what happened to him.

They question the decision to release his attacker from jail.

"I don't think that because he has a monitoring device that will stop him from going out," his uncle said. "The concern is for Mohammed, but it's also for public safety."

In December of 2015, the school's former principal, Monica Fabre, was attacked by a student and suffered a concession.

She has since left the district but said the restrictive policies at Harrison are not working.

"The environment is not an environment conducive to learning," she said over the phone. "It is called an education center but what it is is a prison."

In response, the district's superintendent said he didn't know Fabre, adding that he's only been in the district for two years.

In describing a recent visit to Harrison, Graff said he witnessed the opening of a new kitchen that was built for cooking classes.

"The culminating activity...we had cake of the month," he said. "The students prepared cake and they wanted to showcase their new facility and their work. That, for me, feels like a learning environment."

Harrison is a small school serving between 35 and 50 students.

The superintendent says the staff includes two social workers and a psychologist, and they have mental health support from outside agencies.

Whether or not Burfield returns to Harrison as a student is up to the school district, but he can no longer be in the same building with Dukuly.

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