Dasanni Barfield Dublin H.S student attacked by masked older teens along with a parent of one the attackers encouraging beat down as victim’s mo, Cherie Barfield demands justice as authorities continue to investigate and refuse to publicly identify attackers.
‘No heroes in this story…’ A California parent has told of her high school freshman son being assaulted by a group of masked males outside a school locker room, with a parent of one of the attackers present and even encouraging the beat-down.
Dasanni Barfield, a 14 year old at East Bay’s Dublin High School is now recovering from a broken nose and a concussion following Friday afternoon’s merciless attack.
The incident has led to the boy’s mother, Cherie Barfield, decrying the assault and demanding school officials take action along with keeping students safe on campus.
Identity of attackers not publicly divulged
Police said a Dublin High parent was in a confrontation with the freshman football player before a group of teens barged into the locker room after school Friday and assaulted the victim. The assault only ended after after fellow football players heard commotion and fended off the older boys, before the group fleeing.
To date the identity of the attackers, including the parent has not been publicly divulged.
In a letter to families in the school community, principal Maureen Byrne said she and school officials ‘are outraged that this happened on our campus. School must be a place where all feel safe and supportive.’
Dublin Police Services said in a separate statement Tuesday afternoon that the male victim was first confronted by a school parent around 3:30 p.m. The victim retreated into the boys’ locker room and was followed by the parent and four unknown subjects who were approximately 16 to 19 years of age.
Speaking to CBS News, Cherie Barfied said both her and her son are shaken up and concerned for the teen’s future at the school following the attack.
Dasanni said he was standing outside the locker room when the Dublin High School parent, who he said was the mother of a student, confronted him.
What led up to the assault taking place?
‘So while I’m outside, the mother says which one of you…’n—ers.”
‘Once she said that, the two people next to me, they get up and they scattered,’ Desanni continued. ‘So she already knows it’s me. So when she says that, all I do is walk away. I wasn’t going to try to argue with her.’
Desanni said he also saw four bigger people behind the mother approaching him and retreated to the locker room. The actual assault followed the confrontation.
‘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,’ Dasani explained.
Cherie said she was especially concerned that a parent was involved in the attack, which police confirmed.
‘I just can’t fathom how another parent can just bring bodily harm against another child. And just get away with it,’ the parent said.
One of Dasanni’s teammates was among those who rushed in to stop the attack. The head football coach administered aid to Dasani.
Masked assaulters not affiliated with Dublin High School
Speaking to KTVU, Dublin Unified School District Superintendent, Chris Funk said none of the assaulting students attended Dublin High School.
Not immediately clear is what led to the ‘outside’ group specifically seeking Dasani out and coming all the way over to boy’s school to ‘take matters into their own hands.’
Dasanit’s concerned mother said the fact that the people who carried out the attack could get into the school so easily has her questioning the safety of others and demanding action from school leaders.
‘I just want my son to be safe. I want all kids to be safe in this community,’ the mom told CBS News.
Cherie said she wants to preserve Desanni’s dreams of playing football, but he already won’t be able to play in his first game as a freshman.
‘Football has been his everything since he was seven. And for him not to be able to play in his starting game…I just wish I could ease everything for him, but I can’t,’ the mom said.
Cherie also was upset with the school for not communicating with her about the incident promptly and is demanding answers from administrators.
‘I just don’t appreciate how Dublin [High] did not contact us and how they’ve been trying to cover up this whole story. I feel like somebody dropped the ball. Somebody dropped the ball and a child was hurt,’ the parent said. ‘And we just want answers. We want justice.’
Dublin Police Services said school resource officers were continuing to interview witnesses and collect video evidence to determine a motive and how the victim, suspect, and Dublin High School parent know each other.
It remained unclear if and when arrests were forthcoming.
