A D.C. Council member said two day care teachers were attacked by a man Monday while walking with a group of children to a playground.

Zachary Parker, Ward 5 Democrat, said the teachers from the Petit Scholars day care in Bloomingdale were assaulted by the suspect near the intersection of 2nd and S streets in Northwest.

Mr. Parker said the teachers were walking with a group of toddlers and infants when a man approached the victims and asked for money.

The teachers said they didn’t have anything to give the man. That’s when the man attacked, according to the councilman.

“One teacher sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries and is recovering at a nearby hospital,” Mr. Parker wrote on X. “A teacher who attempted to help was also injured but [was] not hospitalized. Good Samaritans jumped in and helped.”       

Mr. Parker said the man was arrested shortly afterward. The councilman said the suspect is “well known in the community,” and may have been having a mental health crisis at the time of the attack.  

Support services are being offered to the educators and parents, as well as the suspect.

Mr. Parker said he asked D.C. Police to provide an escort for Petit Scholars’ students and staff for their regular trips to the playground.

“The devastation of a child witnessing their teacher be attacked is unthinkable,” the councilman said. “We must keep working to make our communities healthy, whole and safe.”

• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.