Man With Machete Attacks School

By PETER JACKSON
.c The Associated Press

FELTON, Pa. (Feb. 2) - A former schoolteacher walked into an elementary school with a machete Friday and struggled with a principal and several teachers in a kindergarten classroom before being subdued.

Three women and five children were injured, but none of the injuries was life-threatening, school officials said.

William Michael Stankewicz, 56, was arrested about 20 minutes after the midday attack at North Hopewell-Winterstown Elementary School, about 75 miles west of Philadelphia.

He was being held on $500,000 bail after being arraigned on charges including two counts of attempted homicide, seven counts of aggravated assault, and one count of bringing a weapon onto school property.

''I had nothing in my hand. I will not admit that,'' Stankewicz told reporters prior to the arraignment. Blaming U.S. immigration officials and congressmen, he complained about the treatment he had received five years ago during a divorce.

''I begged for help and nobody gave me any help,'' he said.

Stankewicz, who once served time in prison and had worked as a schoolteacher in Baltimore, had a bloody cut on the top of his head and blood on his jacket as he was led away from the school in handcuffs.

He refused to say what he was doing at the school, and authorities said the motive for the attack was unknown.

Stankewicz - who lives about 400 miles away, in Johnson City, Tenn. - once lived in central Pennsylvania but had no known connection to the school, prosecutor Thomas Kelley said.

He had a history of troubles with police, including a 1996 federal conviction for threatening to kill his former wife, her children and a congressman.

The struggle began in the school lobby and spilled into two adjacent rooms, including the kindergarten classroom.

''We heard screaming from outside in the hall,'' said 12-year-old Chelsea Stein, who was in her sixth-grade classroom when the attack began. She also heard crying. ''I think it was a teacher, maybe,'' she said.

Principal Norina Bentzel, 41, was slashed on her arm and hand, nearly losing a finger, and Linda Collier, 52, a kindergarten teacher, underwent surgery for cuts on her hand. A third-grade teacher with minor injuries was treated and released.

The five children, all ages 5 or 6, were not seriously hurt, the school district said.

Outside doors are normally kept locked during classes. The attacker apparently entered the building in the morning behind a parent, county emergency manager Patrick McFadden said.

One of the first 911 calls to police was from a woman hiding in the principal's office with the door locked and two children inside, he said.

The school, which has about 320 students and 50 staff members, was closed after the attack, and youngsters were sent home.

Stankewicz served two years in federal prison for threatening his Russian-born fourth wife Larisa, whom he met through a video service. The threats began after she tried to end their five-month marriage, said her attorney, Stephen Converse.

''He's a violent man, prone to violence. You can imagine living with him,'' Converse said.

AP-NY-02-02-01 1836EST