Students had high praise for teacher Risha Pellegrino, who barred the door to a gym full of students Tuesday morning despite being punched and kicked by an intruder with a large knife in his backpack.

PORTSMOUTH, R.I. — Students are calling 27-year-old Risha Pellegrino a "hero" after she prevented an armed intruder from breaking into a gym full of students on Tuesday morning.

Portsmouth police arrested 22-year-old Marcus Schlip, a former student, after he punched and repeatedly kicked Pellegrino while she was holding the main door to the gym, police said. They found a large, military-style knife in his backpack.

Eric Camara, a 10th grader, was in the gym around 9 a.m. when he heard a ruckus and saw everyone running into the locker rooms.

"That's when I saw Miss Pellegrino," he said. "She was hurting. She had a huge welt on her head. She came into the locker room to make sure we were OK."

Another gym teacher told the students, who were crying, to keep calm, Eric said.

"Miss Pellegrino was trying to keep him out," he said. "To keep students in the gym safe."

The other teacher yelled at Schlip to get out and told him to go the main office, where he was arrested.

As word of the assault spread, students became unsettled. During second period, Principal Joseph Amaral announced that the school was safe and the intruder was arrested, said Kerrin Bulpett, a sophomore.

"I know her," Bulpett said of Pellegrino. "She's really young and sweet. I knew she would protect the students, no matter what. I heard from a teacher that she is doing really well, that she was cracking jokes at the hospital."

No one knows why Schlip was trying to get into the school. Police said no students were involved or harmed in the incident.

Schlip has been charged with assault on school teachers, school officials or other school department employees; possession of a knife in a commission of a crime; and disturbance of public assemblies.

Schlip appeared in District Court, Newport, on Tuesday. No plea was entered, and bail was set, with a bail review hearing scheduled for Feb. 6 in Newport.

No one knows when Pellegrino will return to class. But Bulpett and Camara said they have a message for her.

"Thank you, Miss Pellegrino, for saving us," they said in unison.

— lborg@providencejournal.com

(401)277-7823

On Twitter: @lborgprojocom