SACRAMENTO, CA - An unusual outburst in a combined 5th and 6th grade classroom at John Sloat Elementary School has some students and parents concerned.
6th grader Zionni Ibarra was in the class when it happened.
"I was scared," Ibarra said. "And I was crying really bad."
Students said a 5th grade girl started shouting she was part of the Illuminati and threatened to kill other students.
"She said she wanted to sell her soul to the devil," Ibarra said. "And she said she'll kill everybody."
"Everybody just started crying because they were scared that they were going to die that day," 6th grader Elizabeth Martinez added. Martinez was also in the class and witnessed everything.
At one point, students said she grabbed a pair of scissors.
"I seen her try to cut herself and draw blood," 5th grader Xavier Monti explained what happened in the class. "But then she got up and tried to stab another girl a seat away from her."
Students said she drew Illuminati symbols and wrote 666 in the bathroom. Students said her outburst went on for at least an hour, with the teacher only telling them to ignore the girl.
"He thought she was just trying to get attention," Monti said.
Parent Antonio Farinias contacted News10 because he thinks the school should have notified him immediately.
Parents received a phone call after school Thursday, letting them know something had happened at the school.
"To not be notified all day until 6:30 at night last that was real upsetting," Farinias explained. "Because when I picked up my kids from school they were in tears."
"You never know what to tell your kids when they come home telling you 'hey this happened, that happened,' and there's different rumors, and you're like 'which one do I believe? What really happened?'" parent Rebecca Fox said. "[The school district] can't tell you what really happened, you have all these questions and worry and wonder with your kids."
The Sacramento City Unified School District confirmed an incident happened at the school shortly before lunch Thursday, although district officials would not go into more detail.
"Authorities are investigating a disturbance inside a John Sloat Elementary School classroom [Thursday]", said Gabe Ross, SCUSD Chief Communications Officer, in a statement emailed to News10. "The school responded immediately and all students were safe. The incident did not involve weapons and no one was physically harmed. Counseling and other resources have been made available to all John Sloat students today and will continue to be available as needed."
The school also sent a letter home with kids Friday afternoon reiterating a similar message.
"There was a weapon involved. It was a pair of scissors," Farinias said. "So it shocks me to see there are false statements in here knowing otherwise what happened at school yesterday."
Some parents who spoke to News10 think the school could have done more to protect the kids in class and should have taken the girl out of class much sooner.
"They should have stopped it right away," parent Aime Martinez said. "And not let her scare them more."
"With all the stuff going on in school, what does it take for a child to show you something is wrong and for her to follow through with what she says she is going to do? Farinias asked.
Other parents said they think the school acted in the kids' best interests.
"[Taking care of the issue] was more important than us being notified," parent Mary Walters said. "Yeah, we got notified late, and I'm gonna go with that, but our children were safe, and they made sure our children were safe, and that's what was important."
It's not known what caused the sudden outburst in class.
I hope the school is paying for counseling. The girl made death threats and tried to make good on them. Had an adult did this he or she would have been incarcerated. I smell lawsuit. T. W.
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