Lawmakers Scrutinize Background Check Failures That Allowed an Accused Murderer To Teach at Brooklyn Elementary School

On October 30, Sayed Mohassib, 27, an elementary school paraprofessional, allegedly stabbed Brooklyn bank employee Katie Suarez, 28, twice in the neck while she was out for a Friday evening jog, who died several days later. While she was fighting for her life after the gruesome attack, Mr. Mohassib was back at work, in the classroom with children. Despite years of red flags that disqualified Mr. Mohassib from the military and police force for his erratic behavior, and at least one 911 stemming from his threats to “chop up” his family, Mr. Mohassib’s perilous mental health went unnoticed when he sought to join New York City Public Schools. Following Ms. Suarez’s tragic death, politicians at every level of New York government say they are looking for ways to close the gaps that let an accused killer into the schoolhouse.“I have directed my team to conduct a full review into this matter, I think underlining the importance of the fact that nothing is more paramount than the safety of our students,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani told reporters Monday, calling the attack “horrific” and stressing “our commitment to hold the individual responsible fully accountable and our commitment to the fact that every New Yorker deserves to be safe in our city, no matter at what time, no matter what corner, no matter what time of the night.”New York City Public Schools announced Monday that it had taken the unusual step of firing Mr. Mohassib prior to a jury conviction, as the agency carries out its own investigation into his hiring.“This individual’s employment has been terminated,” a spokesperson for the school system said in a statement to the New York Sun on Monday evening. “NYCPS maintains a robust background and review process for employment in schools. We are conducting a review to explore any areas where this can be strengthened and ensure no stone is left unturned when it comes to student safety.”The first line of defense in keeping students safe is the background check candidates must undergo. But one stone the agency can’t turn over when it comes to vetting potential teachers are mental health records, which are protected from background checks under federal laws including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA. Mr. Mohassib had no criminal record when he was hired by the public school system in 2024, according to a source familiar with his work history. So running his fingerprints didn’t trigger any alarm bells.A background check didn’t show, for example, that Mr. Mohassib received his first patrol assignment after graduating from the police academy in October 2022, but left the following month to join the Marine Corps. The Marines swiftly sent him packing.In a joint statement Saturday, Councilmember Kayla Santosuosso, State Senator Andrew Gounardes, and Assemblymember-Elect Chris McCreight said Mohassib was “discharged from the military on psychiatric grounds.”The lawmakers referred to Mr. Mohassib as “evidently a mentally disturbed man with no criminal record, but who was an ex-NYPD officer and ex-Marine who was discharged from the military” and called for “a full investigation into the circumstances of his hiring and continued employment.”Nor did a standard background check show that when Mr. Mohassib attempted to rejoin the NYPD three months after resigning, in January 2023, “several” supervisors flagged “concerning behavior” and his disheveled appearance, according to a source with knowledge of Mr. Mohassib’s work history. That same day, he was brought to Bellevue Hospital for a psychological evaluation.Mr. Mohassib was never reinstated at the NYPD following his disastrous January 2023 return interview, but the episode did not meet the criteria for adding him to the state’s Decertification List, a roster of former New York cops who have lost their badges and guns based on complaints or other misbehavior. The list is meant to prevent bad apples from shuttling around departments. Adding him to the list, which is both public and searchable, would have created a digital warning to future employers. But a decision not to reinstate — even for reasons as dramatic as those in Mr. Mohassib’s case — is not covered in the regulations governing the blacklist.On September 27, 2024, the same year Mr. Mohassib began working in the public school system, his mother and sister called 911, according to NBC News, and told the officers who responded that he had threatened to “chop them up.” That somehow didn’t disqualify him from working with children either.City Councilman Eric Dinowitz affirmed that he too is examining Mr. Mohassib’s path to working at Brooklyn’s P.S. 200 The Benson School in a statement to The Sun.“I am absolutely looking into the issue of background checks and hiring practices as Chair of the Council’s Education Committee,” he wrote. “As a former teacher this kind of loss is not only horrific, but instills fear in the very students we are here to protect. Our students deserve to be safe.”

Lawmakers Scrutinize Background Check Failures That Allowed an Accused Murderer To Teach at Brooklyn Elementary School

Lawmakers Scrutinize Background Check Failures That Allowed an Accused Murderer To Teach at Brooklyn Elementary School

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