A teenage girl was left permanently disabled after her chemistry teacher decided to teach a lesson on ‘metal and melding’ by bringing samurai swords to school and making pupils fight with them.
Loviata Mitchell, 45, cleared desks from the classroom at Volcano Vista High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, before arranging a series of two-minute bouts.
She then exclaimed ‘I’m in trouble!’ and ordered students to delete their videos when a katana severed the nerves and tendons in a girl’s hand just seconds later.
A school investigation concluded that Mitchell broke no rules, but now, she and the school district are being sued by the 16-year-old’s family after surgery was unable to repair the damage.
‘I’ve talked to her surgeon, and he could actually feel where the sword had made a mark in the bone,’ said family attorney Jessica Hernandez.
Video filmed by the girl shows two classmates wielding the swords at each other just seconds before her own fateful bout in the classroom at Volcano Vista High School
Chemistry teacher Loviata Mitchell brought the weapons in for a lesson on ‘metal and melding’
But her 16-year-old pupil has been left permanently disabled after a sword sliced through the nerves and tendons in her hand as she faced off against a classmate
‘Those injuries cause her ongoing daily pain, as well as cause her to be unable to perform many basic daily tasks.’
Mitchell told students, ‘I’ve got a surprise for you,’ as she began the lesson in May 2022, the lawsuit claims.
Pulling out a katana and a rapier, she cleared a space and in the center of the class and set up a two-minute timer on a monitor.
Footage of the first bout filmed by the girl shows two boys with no faceguards or protective equipment gingerly clanking their three-foot blades together as Mitchell leans on a sink with a smile on her face.
Both appeared to survive unscathed, but seconds later it was the girl’s turn as she entered the impromptu arena to face a classmate identified in the documents as ‘DM.’
‘DM struck NS across her right forearm, wrist, and hand with the katana-style sword,’ it records.
‘NS suffered a large and deep laceration across her right hand and wrist that is inconsistent with a ‘prop’ sword.’
Mitchell allegedly told students not to report how the injury happened and tried to call the school health office but ‘could not figure out how to do so’.
Mitchell looked on smiling as her students tried not to injure each other
The girl’s lawyers say that this katana was one of the weapons being used on the day
Mitchell uploaded this photo to celebrate her qualification as a Master of Arts in Special Education in the spring of 2021
She herself had experienced fearful bladed objects up close at Halloween in 2020
‘As NS began to feel nauseous and weak from blood loss, another student ran to the VVHS health office for medical assistance,’ court documents report.
It was 20 minutes before the girl was allowed to call her family, and another 10 before a school health assistant finally called 911 and she was taken by EMS to an emergency room.
‘It is shocking that this little girl is bleeding in a classroom and paramedics are not called for 30 minutes,’ Hernandez said.
‘So those are also procedures that Albuquerque Public Schools needs to address to make sure that first, this doesn’t happen.
‘But if a student is injured, what are you going to do about it immediately to make sure they get the care that they need.’
Assistant principal Manuel Algaza is also being sued after his investigation cleared Mitchell of blame for the ‘accident’.
‘In response to the report’s question, ‘Did the injury violate school rules?’ Mr. Alzaga checked a box indicating ‘No’,’ the lawsuit claims.
The girl had to endure a series of operations, physical therapy and mental health counseling and continues to struggle with tasks such as pressing buttons, fastening zippers and cooking.
‘Despite this surgical repair of NS’s nerves and tendons, it was not possible to fully repair them, and they remain damaged,’ Hernandez said.
‘As a result, her wrist and hand are permanently injured. Those injuries cause her ongoing daily pain, as well as cause her to be unable to perform many basic daily tasks.
‘As a 16-year-old, when you get hurt like this, and all of a sudden you can’t do the same things that you used to do — it’s really discouraging. It’s depressing. It’s isolating.’
A school district spokesman told NBC that Mitchell was fired two months later but could not confirm that it was in connection with the incident.
The civil suit was filed last week in New Mexico’s 2nd Judicial District Court by the girl’s grandparents Arnold and Judy Gachupin who are her guardians.
A spokesperson for Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) said they were barred form commenting on active litigation.
Mitchell appears to have a liking for dangerous props judging by this photo she uploaded to Facebook just one day after bringing her swords to the school
‘Not only did this teacher and APS not protect this child, but they actively put her in harm’s way, actively created this danger, and put deadly weapons right into these student’s hands,’ Hernandez told KOAT.com.
‘Exactly what could reasonably be anticipated is what happened.
‘If I’m a parent, and I take my kid to school, I think they will be safe.
‘I think the teachers are going to protect them, and here absolutely the opposite happened.’