PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Police are searching for two teenage boys who pistol-whipped a student while he was drinking at a drinking fountain in Juanita Sanchez High School on Wednesday morning.
The hoodie-wearing intruders slipped into the school when another student opened a locked side door and let them in, according to the police. They ran down into the foyer, then passed Edgar Matos, 18, who was at the bubbler.
One hit Matos in the head with a handgun and ordered him to "run his pockets," according to the police. Matos fought back, and the two ran away.
Spokeswoman Laura Hart said the intruders were there for less than five minutes before the building was put on lockdown. They fled into the neighborhood. Matos was treated by a school nurse for a cut on his forehead.
Meanwhile, two nearby schools, Woods Elementary and Roger Williams Middle School, were placed on restricted access, which means no one was allowed in or out of the schools.
The police were reviewing surveillance video and working to identify the intruders.
The district is also sending out messages to students and parents reminding them that they must enter schools by the front door and then report to the front office. No one inside the building should allow anyone to enter without that individual buzzing the main office.