CENTRAL HARLEM — An angry fifth-grader blasted her teacher with pepper spray Thursday afternoon, causing pandemonium and coughing fits in the classroom and sending six students to the hospital, fire officials said.
The unidentified student was standing a few feet behind the teacher when she unleashed the chemical agent on the room about 2:40 p.m. as the children were putting away their laptops at the end of the school day, said Nyliyah Davis, 10, a fifth-grader at P.S. 92 Mary McLeod Bethune School at 222 W 134th St.
"People in the class started coughing. Ms. Kisson said 'oh no get out of the classroom," Nyliyah, referring to her teacher, said. "People started crying. We ran downstairs."
Emergency workers evaluated 16 patients and transported six to area hospitals following the incident, fire officials said.
Nyliyah's parents rushed to the school as soon as they heard about the incident.
"I was in shock because I send my child to learn and this is what happens when she is supposed to be learning," said Nyliyah's mother Stephanie Davis, 34. "This is an elementary school this shouldn't be happening."
After inhaling the peppery fumes, Nyliyah said her lungs still ached and her parents planned on taking her to the hospital.
"The EMT put water in my eyes because they were burning," she said. "They gave us oxygen to help us breathe."
The Department of Education confirmed that six students were taken to the hospital after pepper spray discharged in a classroom and that an investigation into what happened is ongoing, but had no further comment.
