Katrina survivor beat up at school

This is awful, first his family is forced from their homes by hurricane katrina, and now this. When will it end?

Local Katrina Evacuee Attacked At New School
School Officials Say Incident Was Case Of Mistaken Identity

POSTED: 5:49 pm EDT September 23, 2005

DETROIT -- A Louisiana teen displaced by Hurricane Katrina was attacked by some students at his new school in Detroit, Local 4 reported.

A few students from Edwin Denby High School jumped the teen last week, punching him in the face at least once, the station reported.

Raynesha Walker, an 11th-grader at the school, said she was appalled by the incident.

"I think it was wrong for them students to do what they did to him because he's coming to a new place to start over," said Walker.

Detroit Public School officials said it was a case of mistaken identity and the student was not the intended target of the attack.

"This incident, though unfortunate, is not at all something that's representative about the spirit of community, hospitality that exists at Denby High School," said Detroit Public Schools spokesman Lekan Oguntoyinbo.

Before the attack occurred, students at Denby had been collecting supplies for hurricane victims, and many of them are now pitching in to help the Louisiana teen, the station reported.

"The principal, the teachers, the staff and the students, particularly the student leaders, have just been wonderful about embracing the student," Oguntoyinbo said. "They have taken him out, bought him clothes, they've tried to introduce him to the school, to the neighborhood."

The students accused in the attack have been suspended while officials continue to investigate the incident.

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