New York teacher hit by stray bullet in 6th-floor classroom calls incident ‘last thing’ he expected

Anxiety gripped a Bronx high school Thursday as the new school year began one day after a teacher was shot in his classroom — something the teacher said was “the last thing” he expected.

Special education teacher Jhairo Colon, 33, was grazed by a bullet of mysterious origin that entered through a sixth-floor window at Middle School 391 on Webster Avenue on Wednesday, the day before children were scheduled to return to the building.

“I was getting my class ready and I heard a crash through the window,” said the father of two, who has been out of school to recover. “And all of a sudden I started bleeding… but I didn’t know it until someone in my class told me I was bleeding.”

Colon didn’t know what happened to him — but then he felt pain.

“I felt a twinge, and then it started to become pain,” said Colon, whose right hand was stitched and bandaged. “I ran downstairs, the paramedics came and took me to the hospital. I got stitched up and I’m ready to go.

“My hand is a little sore,” he continued. “But I can handle it.”

This strange story began just before noon, when gunfire cut through the morning noise and sent a bullet through Colon’s high window.

“I didn’t know what to think,” the teacher said. “It was just weird being on the top of the sixth floor — the last thing on my mind was a bullet coming through the window and hitting me. That was the last thing I expected.”

Police said the shooter most likely did not intend to attack the school, but more police officers were on site on the first day of the school’s opening to ensure the safety of students.

Many children and parents were shocked when they arrived at the scene on Thursday morning.

“I’m a little concerned about this,” said Jennifer Lara, a 33-year-old mother who was dropping off her 10-year-old daughter. “It’s the beginning of the school year, and they’ve already started. It’s not a good sign.”

Jessica Guzman, 39, the mother of an 11-year-old sixth-grader, said “it doesn’t make me feel safe.”

“I worry about her,” Guzman said. “I won’t let her walk home from school alone. I keep thinking, ‘What if the kids were there?’”

“Maybe it would be more dangerous because (the shooter) could have hit a student, and that student, God forbid, could have died,” she continued. “This is on the sixth floor! Even the sixth floor is not safe?”

The children were also worried.

“I want to change schools,” the 11-year-old said, her voice shaking as she expressed how upset she was. “I don’t feel comfortable.”

Others were unhappy about the police presence outside — even though they were there to protect them.

“He’s nervous coming here, seeing all the police,” Crystal, a 35-year-old home health aide, said of her seventh-grade student. “I know it’s for his safety, but he doesn’t feel comfortable.”

A social worker surnamed Beresia expressed dissatisfaction, saying the shooting “should never have happened.”

However, she advised parents to talk about it with their children and explore their feelings while trying to stay up to date with what is happening.

“If a child is not comfortable, it is not a learning environment,” she said. “Find out their anxiety level, how they are feeling, and address that right away. It’s unfortunate that we live in a society like that … (but) we need to make our children feel empowered.”

Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark also attended the school opening — “just to make sure everybody was OK.”

“Everyone seems to be OK, thank God,” she said. “It could have been a lot worse, so I’m just grateful that everything turned out okay.”

“This is a place where you should be safe,” Clark continued, adding that her office was still investigating the shooting. “Bullets shouldn’t be coming through windows.”

The district attorney said she spoke with the principal, who she said was “concerned” but resilient.

“We will get through this,” Clark said. “But we will still get to the bottom of this and hold whoever is responsible accountable.”

One parent called the situation “not good.”

“I’m worried about their safety,” said Alexander Campbell, a 33-year-old father who showed up with his two sons.

“Children have to go to school. How are they supposed to be safe, how do we know they’re going to be safe if these things keep happening?”

One of his sons, 12-year-old Noel Alexander, had similar feelings.

“If school had started yesterday, I could have been in the building when it happened,” the seventh-grade student said quietly.

“Or maybe I could get shot. That makes me nervous.”