That’s when Gubitosa called the local media to complain about her school administration’s inaction. On Tuesday, two students–neither of whom Gubitosa knew–were shot by an gunman at the same school. Suddenly, the school’s security problems and its teachers’ insecurities became national news. On Wednesday, the student who had been threatening Gubitosa was arrested. NEWSWEEK’s Suzanne Smalley spoke with the teacher. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: When were you first assaulted?

Anella Gubitosa: The first incident was on Dec. 19, several days before Christmas break. She came into the room, and I asked her to leave because of previous verbal harassment. I had spoken to the guidance department and suggested that they take her out of my classroom, that I was worried about my safety. On the 19th, when she arrived, and I told her that she needed to leave and report to guidance, she became very violent, cursing. This time she picked up a large textbook and tossed it and almost hit me with it. At that point, I called for security.

That was the first truly violent incident?

Yes, I would say that was truly violent. Tossing a textbook of that size and almost hitting me is pretty serious. The principal was on the floor with another administrator and they both witnessed her cursing at me, threatening to kick my teeth out of my mouth, punch my face in and [saying] “I’ll get you after school.” She was taken down to a [detention] room and the dean was with her … and then around dismissal time she bolted out of the room and made her way back up to my classroom. She began to force her way into my room. An administrator overheard the screaming … and pulled her out of the doorway, quickly closed the door and called for security, and that was it.

Were you surprised that she was allowed back anywhere near you?

I was shocked to see that she had escaped and come back up to get me … She was angry. She said, “She got me thrown out of this school and I’m gonna get her” … I spoke to the police officers the following morning when I came in and I was upset because they said that we would not be able to press charges for assault since I was not injured….

After that, even though she was removed from the school, she was able to attempt an assault for a third time on Monday, Jan. 14?

The assistant principal said that legally we had to give her exams. They said they would put her in the principal’s office and they would have a secretary watch her. I thought that was strange that they didn’t have security … She escaped from the principal’s office and made her way back up to my room and was barging in. Luckily, as she escaped from the principal’s office, the assistant principal … saw her [and] ran after her.

The assistant principal tried to reach for the telephone to call for help and [the student] ripped the telephone out of the wall. At that point, I really started to freak out. I said, “Uh oh, this time I’m gonna get it.” A teacher was trying to restrain her. She [the student] then pushed a metal file cabinet with about 35 huge textbooks on it and then began to push desks to get at me and throw textbooks into the room….

I realized that security had not been made aware of the situation at this point, and I ran to the corner of my room where I had a cell phone in my locker. I quickly dialed 911 and called for help. About 10 minutes later security was up there and the police officers were coming into the building … and the security officers handcuffed her … [but] they let her leave the building. She was not arrested.

They let her leave?

The police said to me you are not hurt, you have not been assaulted, we’re letting her go. And I was shocked. I said this is the … third time that they’re not going to arrest her … I said to my union, give me the newspaper’s number right now because the union has been really upset about the lack of sufficient security, the lack of protection and deans and so forth and so on … I called and I said this is what just happened to me and I am not sitting back and waiting to get killed until somebody does something about it.

After Tuesday’s shooting, teachers and the president of the student body complained that there are only 14 security agents and two New York City police officers to staff a school of more than 2,000 students. Does this reality make teachers feel unsafe?

We’re understaffed. I hear teachers filing incident reports. The tone of the school is terrible. People are afraid. The whole school is falling apart: the caliber of the students, the incidents in the classroom. Overall, it’s just a negative, negative environment….

The dean in charge of security quit a few months ago …

When he left, I think all of us got a little nervous. I expected [a shooting]. I said several months ago when we returned from summer break, “I sense that something is going to happen this year.” My worst nightmare is what happened yesterday, [but] I wasn’t surprised.

Why have there been so many problems with safety?

I don’t think people care. If you care, you do something. If you don’t care, you don’t do anything … Part of it, I believe, is money.

Yesterday’s shooting happened on Martin Luther King’s birthday. Do you see any symbolism there?

It’s just coincidental. [But] it is symbolic … This school should be representative of what he stood for, and it’s not. That’s sad.

What was the mood in the school during the shooting?

As a kid said to me, “Ms. G., now you know what it’s like living in the ‘hood’.”

Why do you think they finally arrested the girl who threatened you? Was it because of the publicity the school got after the shooting?

They got a little shook up. A teacher is making waves … No one does anything unless you make waves. If I didn’t do anything about it, it would have been swept under the carpet.