New York City's school system has ordered an independent review of its hiring and vetting procedures after a school employee with a history of erratic behaviour was charged with fatally stabbing a Brooklyn jogger, the New York Times reported.
Kamar Samuels, chancellor of the city's school system, the largest in the United States, said on Friday that he had asked the city's Law Department to lead the investigation, which will include an examination of how information about job applicants is shared among city agencies.
"The safety of our students and staff is our highest priority," Samuels said in a statement. "We stand ready to immediately take action based on their recommendations."
The move was prompted by the arrest this month of Sayed Mohassib, 27, a paraprofessional at Public School 200 in Brooklyn, who was charged with second-degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence in the stabbing death of Katie Suarez, 28. Suarez was attacked while running along the Shore Parkway Greenway in the Bath Beach neighbourhood on the evening of October 30 and died three days later. She was an organ donor.
Mohassib worked one on one with students with disabilities at P.S. 200, also known as the Benson School, located about a mile from where Suarez was attacked. His arrest has stunned parents and colleagues, who have questioned how he could have passed a department background check and been hired to work closely with students. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said this week that the city would review his hiring.
Mohassib had been hired despite apparent warning signs in his employment history, according to police officials and a military spokesman. He served only briefly in the New York Police Department, leaving after he was denied reinstatement, and was abruptly discharged from the Marine Corps. "The character of his service was incongruent with the Marine Corps' expectations and standards," Capt. Jacob M. Sugg, a military spokesman, said.
A colleague at the elementary school said Mohassib had shared details with co-workers about his mental health struggles, including an episode at home while he was working at a high school that resulted in him being hospitalised for three months. The colleague, Natale Di Maggio, said Mohassib had claimed to have stopped taking his medication for mental health issues. Some co-workers felt uncomfortable around him and kept their distance, according to two other people familiar with the concerns.
Mohassib first joined the Department of Education in 2019 as a full-time school aide. To be hired, he would have had to be nominated by a principal, complete a questionnaire covering job terminations and military service, and pass a background check. He later left the department and entered the Police Academy in April 2022, starting work as a police officer that October before being granted military leave near the end of November. About two weeks later, he was discharged from the Marines.
In January 2023, Mohassib tried to rejoin the Police Department, but when he met with supervisors they became so concerned about his behaviour and dishevelled appearance that he was taken to Bellevue Hospital, police officials said. He was soon able to rejoin the Education Department, though that would have required another nomination, another questionnaire and another background check. Whether the department asked about his string of brief jobs or whether he disclosed his mental health history remains unclear. Mohassib has not yet entered a plea in the case, the Times reported.
