Portsmouth Police: PHS intruder ordered students to ‘line up’

Marcus Schlip also tried to gain access to another office at PHS, police report says

By Jim McGaw
Posted 2/2/18

PORTSMOUTH — Although several portions of the account have been redacted, a police report released Friday offers a clearer picture of what happened Tuesday morning when a 22-year-old man …

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Portsmouth Police: PHS intruder ordered students to ‘line up’

Marcus Schlip also tried to gain access to another office at PHS, police report says

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — Although several portions of the account have been redacted, a police report released Friday offers a clearer picture of what happened Tuesday morning when a 22-year-old man allegedly forced his way into the Portsmouth High School field house and assaulted a gym teacher.

During the incident, which unfolded around 9 a.m. on Jan. 30, Marcus A. Schlip, a former PHS student, requested the teacher follow him into a bathroom, according to the report. When she refused, he punched and kicked her, then ordered students to line up “because he was now in charge,” the report stated.

The teacher’s name was redacted in the report, but she has been identified through other sources as 27-year-old Risha Pellegrino. She’s in her fourth year of teaching health and physical education at PHS and is also the assistant varsity and junior varsity coach of the girls’ basketball teams.

Students who witnessed the assault have described Ms. Pellegrino, who fought with the suspect while ordering her pupils to run for cover, as a hero. Ms. Pellegrino was treated for minor injuries and released.

According to the police report, shortly after 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 30, Patrol Officer Maddie L. Pirri was dispatched to the field house — often referred to as “the new gym” — for a report of a male intruder who had assaulted a gym teacher. 

The field house is located just across from the high school on the east side of Education Lane. Mr. Schlip lives at 409 Turnpike Ave. on the east side of the field house, just a short walk away.

When Officer Pirri arrived, she found the teacher on the floor of the gym, “hysterically crying,” according to the report. Officer Pirri asked who was responsible for the assault and the teacher replied, “I don’t know who he is, but he’s walking to the main office.”

Ms. Pellegrino told police the ordeal began with Mr. Schlip banging on the doors to the field house. She opened the door and directed him to the main office, where all visitors are required to first report, police said.

Mr. Schlip then forced his way into the gym and asked the teacher to go into the bathroom with him, police said. When she refused, he “assaulted her by punching her in the head and kicking her multiple times in the arm” after she fell on the floor, Officer Pirri stated in the report.

The assault took place in front of several juveniles, who were later provided with emotional support by the school staff. They told police Mr. Schlip struck the teacher in the face, then demanded students to “line up because he was now in charge,” the report stated.

Ms. Pellegrino told students to “run and call 911,” police said. They managed to find shelter in a locker room and locked the door, police said.

No students were injured in the incident.

Found in main office

After he left the field house and went to the PHS main office, Mr. Schlip unsuccessfully tried to gain access to a different office, witnesses told police. The identity of the office was redacted from the report, however.

When Officer Pirri arrived at the main office she found Mr. Schlip, wearing a black dress coat, jeans, a scarf, hat and boots. He was sitting in a chair and holding a black duffle bag, police said.

Several portions of the report were blacked out by police, including Mr. Schlip’s responses upon being asked his name and his reason for being at the school. 

He was escorted into the lobby area and placed in handcuffs by Officer Pirri, police said. After the arrival of Police Chief Thomas Lee and Sgt. Stephen Burns, Officer Pirri asked Mr. Schlip if he was carrying any weapons.

“Schlip informed me that he had a large knife in his duffle bag,” Officer Pirri stated in the report. The knife was later seized by police.

Mr. Schlip was then placed in a cruiser and driven to the front of the field house, where Ms. Pellegrino identified him to police, the report stated.

Arraignment

Mr. Schlip was charged with felony assault on a schoolteacher, possession of a knife in a commission of a crime and disturbance of public assemblies. 

Due to the felony charge, no plea was entered at his arraignment Tuesday in 2nd District Court, Newport. District Court Judge Colleen Hastings ordered that Mr. Schlip not contact Ms. Pellegrino or trespass at PHS. The judge also ordered that Mr. Schlip be sent to Butler Hospital for a psychological evaluation.

He was released on $5,000 personal recognizance.

Portsmouth High School, Marcus Schlip, Portsmouth Police Department

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