Student charged with attacking Harrison Education Center staffer

Prosecutors have charged a student at a Minneapolis alternative school with two counts of felony assault in an attack that left a teaching assistant in critical condition this week.

A family member says Mohammed Dukuly is able to move his limbs and open his eyes but is otherwise unresponsive. Corey David Burfield, 18, of St. Paul is being held on $150,000 bond.

Police say the incident happened Tuesday morning around 9:45 at Harrison Education Center in north Minneapolis, which serves special needs students.

According to the criminal complaint, a school resource officer was sitting in the front office and saw Burfield, a student at the school, knock the staff member to the ground and "punch him a number of times." Authorities say Burfield was forcibly removed, and Dukuly was left unresponsive.

Prosecutors said the incident was captured on surveillance video. They said it shows Burfield making a grab for Dukuly's belt before Dukuly tries to push Burfield away. But then the student grabs Dukuly by the shirt, shoves him into a wall and then to the floor where Burfield is shown striking him in the head and neck.

Dukuly's uncle, who shares the same name, is an imam at a mosque in Brooklyn Center. The elder Dukuly said his nephew has worked at Harrison for about a decade and is dedicated to the students there.

"[He is] generous, compassionate, someone who would like to see everyone succeed. That was his call," Dukuly said. "That's why he decided to work there. It's not about the money. It's about how he can help vulnerable students."

Dukuly also says his nephew — an immigrant from Liberia — is deeply involved in the Twin Cities west African community. Imam Dukuly says he wants a full investigation into the attack.

"What are the measures they put in place at that particular school for the safety of not just the staff, but also the vulnerable students there," Dukuly said.

Dukuly says doctors at Hennepin County Medical Center put his nephew on a ventilator but, in a hopeful sign, switched it off after he was able to breathe on his own.

A Minneapolis Public Schools spokesperson said he can't discuss details of the incident because of privacy laws, but says the district is conducting a full investigation.

Shaun Laden, president of the Educational Support Professionals chapter of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, said the union is also investigating the incident.

"What our members are concerned about is making sure that we have the resources to get our kids the education that they deserve and certainly our working conditions and student learning conditions are part of that," Laden said.

Laden says there are around 40 students at Harrison, and about as many staff members.

The alleged attack this week was not the first at the school. During the 2015-16 academic year there were three reported assaults on staff members over a two-month period.