Officer stationed at Oakland school after hammer attack

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A police officer is stationed at a West Oakland elementary school Monday as a precautionary measure in the wake of a hammer attack on a 9-year-old girl at the school on Friday, an Oakland Unified School District spokesman said.

OUSD spokesman Troy Flint said there is no specific threat or indication of retribution at Lafayette Elementary School at 1700 Market St. but he said school officials want to be on the safe side.

"We think it was an isolated incident but we'd rather be safe than sorry," Flint said.

Haseemah Diame, the mother of a second grade girl at the school and a volunteer at the campus, has been arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly attacking the 9-year-old girl, who is in third grade, at about 10:50 a.m. Friday, according to Flint.

School officials allege that Diame lured the victim from a play area to an outdoor restroom adjacent to the school and a nearby park, Flint said.

Diame then allegedly attacked the girl with a hammer inside the restroom, he said.

The motive for the attack remains under investigation but Flint said it could be because of a feud between Diame's family and the 9-year-old's family.

The third-grader is still at a hospital to be treated for serious injuries that she suffered but Flint said "she's doing well, all things considered.