Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter

Esther Tyson, principal of Ardenne High. - Contributed

The allegedly mentally ill man, who was on Tuesday shot by police at Ardenne High School, has been charged with wounding and malicious destruction of property.

He is expected to appear before the court today.

Senior Superintendent George Quallo, head of the St. Andrew Central Police Division said the judge will decide if the man should be sent for psychiatric evaluation.

The Ardenne High School Parent Teachers' Association (PTA) yesterday urged Commissioner of Police Lucius Thomas to take appropriate steps to ensure that there is not a recurrence of Tuesday's incident, where a mentally ill man and a student were shot and injured at the school.

Waves of shock and deep distrust

"Words must be spoken now and concomitant action taken to calm the waves of shock and deep distrust that this unfortunate incident has sent across the nation," said Sharon Nembhard, president of the Ardenne High School PTA.

"We urge all individuals and institutions charged with the responsibility of maintaining law and order to do all that is possible to create and maintain an environment of social and emotional wellness in our schools and the wider society," she added.

Ms. Nembhard said while no life was lost, psychological and physical wounds that have been left by the incident could have been averted by more professional policing.

The administration at the school is to implement tighter security measures following Tuesday's incident.

Principal Esther Tyson said while there is adequate security generally on the school's compound, further measures are to be put in place at the staffroom, where the incident occurred.

Several meetings were held with representatives from the police and the Jamaica Teachers' Association on Wednesday to discuss the matter. Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller also addressed members of staff and indicated that she would await the outcome of the Bureau of Special Investigation's probe into the matter.

Reports are that the mentally ill man was in the vicinity of the school, throwing stones at a group of Ardenne students, when a police patrol car, which was in the area, signalled him to stop.

The man, the police said, then began to throw stones at them. The police accosted the man, who allegedly attempted to disarm one of the lawmen.

The ill man then ran on to the school compound and the police chased him and fired a shot, which resulted in injury to the 11-year-old student who was in a bus that had gone to the school compound to pick up some students. The man was later shot in his thigh in the staffroom, in full view of teachers, one of whom hid under her desk and was later taken to hospital and treated for shock.

petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com

Innocence Lost

"On the ground, a man of unsound mind, babbling, 'I am Cinderella with long, brown hair, there is my golden sister.' A man dishevelled, without shoes, shirt unbuttoned, blood splattered on his hand, his feet. Students gathered around him, no one helping him because the police said no one could," writes Esther Tyson in Innocence Lost in The Sunday Gleaner.