Police arrested a suspect who they say carjacked a vehicle and intentionally drove into an Oakland school Thursday afternoon.
The incident was reported just before 4 p.m. at the Highland Children's Center, along the 1300 block of 86th Avenue.
One employee was injured when she refused to let the driver into the school and now, she’s seen as one of the heroes of the bizarre story saying she was determined to protect her children and staff.
"I told everybody just get to the back, get to the back," said Tracey Johnson who greets parents and children daily.
She said she knew there was going to be trouble when she refused to let the father of at least two students into the building.
"When I saw him with that car I told everybody to just run, just run," Johnson said.
It all began with a carjacking in a nearby church parking lot.
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"She was coming out of the church parking lot and some guy said something to her she didn’t understand then he jumped on the car," said Norman Hazzard, the carjacking victim’s husband, adding the suspect kicked the front windshield in.
The woman ran for her life.
"I saw the car back up and ram into the gate he was stuck there for a second but then he went back and ran straight into the day care," said witness Nereida Ortega.
Three staff members got trapped in the front restroom and 45 children were ushered into the back of the building.
The suspect was tackled by a staff member before police arrived to arrest him,
Johnson twisted her knee running from the car but no one else was injured.
