DUBLIN, CA — The 14-year-old Dublin High School student who was attacked in the school locker rooms last Friday and his mother are speaking out, claiming that the school did not do enough to prevent the attack and help him afterwards.
Dasanni Barfield, a freshman football player, told several news outlets that he is recovering from a broken nose, concussion, and black eye. According to Barfield, the confrontation began due to an unspecified interaction between him and a female freshman. On Friday afternoon after school, the girl and her mother approached him and other friends outside the locker room, and Barfield said the mother used the N word to address them.
A report from Dublin Police Services Tuesday confirmed that a Dublin High School parent was involved in the attack.
Four other students, aged 16-19, dressed in hoodies and masks, then approached from both sides of the mother.
According to reports from both Barfield and the Dublin Police Services, Barfield fled into the locker room, and the other attackers, including the girl and her mother, followed him.
“These guys come into the locker room and ask, ‘Are you Dasanni? Are you Dasanni?’ One of the dudes sucker punches me. I stand up, I start fighting back and they all start jumping me,” Barfield told CBS News.
Barfield’s brother, Bryce Bennett, told KTVU that he got a call from another brother who attends the high school, and went to pick up his younger brother.
“There was just blood everywhere over the floor, so it was sickening to see, and even that they were able to get into the locker room,” he told KTVU.
“His whole face was swollen, his eyes were practically shut, and he was screaming and crying at the top of his lungs. He’s 14-years-old,” Dasanni’s mother Cherie told KTVU.
Football Coach Napoleon Kaufman and other football players broke up the fight, according to a DPS report.
Cherie said that her son was diagnosed with a concussion and a broken nose. Due to his injuries, he will not play his first game as a Gaels running back and linebacker.
“I’m hurting for him because I don’t know how it’s going to affect him lifelong,” Cherie told CBS. “The trauma that ensued.”
The incident was caught on tape, and Dublin police continue to interview witnesses and investigate. No arrests have been made as of Thursday, though Dublin Police Chief Nathan Schmidt told KTVU that attackers could face felony assault charges due to the severity of Dasanni’s injuries.
Dublin High School Principal Maureen Byrne told families that the school is increasing its adult presence in the locker room, and have closed off the hallway leading to the locker room. The school also said in an email that it “will review physical security, safety procedures, staffing, reporting, and other security-related concerns. Counseling support is available on all campuses for those left feeling insecure or uneasy.”
Cherie Barfield told BCN that she didn’t hear about the attack until she was notified by another parent who saw Dasanni bleeding. She reportedly called 911, but was told no police officers were on campus because they were dispatched to another incident. By the time she arrived on campus, she found her son alone, bleeding, with no one tending to him. Barfield told BCN that no one from the school contacted her.
Barfield, who owns Cherie’s Southern Kitchen in Dublin, told BCN that she has hired an attorney and hopes to take legal action against the school, and hopes the mother and her daughter are banned from the school and removed from the district.
Cherie’s Southern Kitchen will host a Unity Prayer Brunch Sunday, and will donate the proceeds to Dublin High School’s football program.
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