A 14-year-old boy was assaulted at his high school on Friday by four older teens following a confrontation with a parent who used a cruel racial slur.
The victim, identified as freshman Dasanni Barfield, is now recovering from a broken nose and a concussion.
Her mother, Cherie Barfield, is now calling on the Bay Area school to keep its students safe on campus.
The boy said he was standing outside the locker room when the father of a Dublin High School student, allegedly the mother of a student, confronted him.
After allegedly being called the n-word, the black student retreated to the boys’ locker room, before being followed by his father and four unknown subjects who were approximately 16 to 19 years old, police said.
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The victim, identified as freshman Dasanni Barfield, is recovering from a broken nose and a concussion after allegedly being assaulted at his high school on Friday by four older teens following a confrontation with a parent.
The boy said he was standing outside the locker room when the mother of a Dublin High School student, allegedly the mother of a student, confronted him. After allegedly being called a word that starts with “black,” the black student retreated to the boys’ locker room.
“So while I’m standing outside, the mom says which one of you… she calls…” Barfield, who is a member of the school’s football team, told CBS News Bay Area on Tuesday in an interview while sitting next to his mother.
—”Necromancers.” Say what she said, Mom Cherie said.
“He called us that,” Barfield agreed. “He asked that, with that word.”
“That’s how the mother approached him,” his mother added, saying her son was still in shock from the encounter.
She also said she felt uncomfortable airing the racist things the (now unidentified) mother allegedly said.
“It’s on the surveillance film,” he insisted.
Neither the school nor the police department released further details about the nature of the attack and did not identify the victim.
He identified himself in Tuesday’s interview after Dublin police confirmed their belief the assault was not random.
Seen here with his mother Cherie on Tuesday, the youth was followed by his father and four unknown subjects who ranged in age from 16 to 19 into the locker room where he was beaten mercilessly, police said.
“When she says that, all I do is walk away,” Barfield recalled of the encounter that led to the beating. “I wasn’t going to try to argue with her.”
It was at that point that Desanni said he saw four larger figures emerge from behind, before beginning to approach him.
In response, he said, he retreated to the locker room, before detailing the beating that allegedly occurred.
‘These guys come into the locker room and ask, ‘Are you Dasanni? Are you Dasanni?’ the boy said, still visibly stressed.
“One of the guys punched me. I stood up, started defending myself and they all started attacking me,” he said.
His mother, now demanding answers, added that she was “hurt for (her son) because (she) doesn’t know how it will affect him” later on.
“The trauma that followed,” he said.
She wants an explanation from administrators after it was confirmed that a Dublin High parent was involved in the attack.
She added that she was particularly concerned that a parent from Dublin High School was involved in the attack, a fact that police, while not naming anyone involved, have now confirmed.
“I cannot understand how another parent can physically harm another child and get away with it,” the mother lamented.
“I just want my son to be safe. I want all the children in this community to be safe,” she said. “We live here. We opened a restaurant here to bring this community together.”
She added that it was one of her son’s teammates who rushed to stop the attack, as well as several other horrified spectators.
In a letter to families, school principal Maureen Byrne said she and school officials “are outraged that this happened on our campus.”
“School should be a place where everyone feels safe and supported,” she said.
The four teenagers involved were not identified but were between the ages of 16 and 19, according to police. It was not immediately clear if they were students.
The moments leading up to the assault and its aftermath were captured on video, Byrne added, while police said the four younger suspects were wearing hoodies.
Police said they have identified some of the people involved, including the father.
Police and paramedics responded to the scene after the school’s football coach, former Oakland Raiders player Napoleon Kaufman, also stepped in to help the boy.
Police and paramedics responded to the scene after the school’s football coach, former Oakland Raiders player Napoleon Kaufman, also intervened to help the boy, authorities said. An investigation is underway.
Dublin Police Chief Nate Schmidt said his department had not yet made any arrests and officers were still interviewing witnesses.
Dublin police added that evidence was being gathered to determine the motive for the attack and how the victim, suspects and parents at Dublin High School knew each other.
Meanwhile, Barfield is about to miss his first football game as a freshman.
“Football has been everything to him since he was seven,” his mother said, as police continue to investigate what exactly happened.
“And that he can’t play in his first game… I’d like to be able to make things easier for him, but I can’t.”
She wants an explanation from administrators, she said.
The police investigation into the incident is ongoing.
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