NYC school aide arrested for killing runner raises serious questions

Outrage at City Hall over how a former teacher's aide turned accused killer was hired to work around children. Welcome to The Noon, everyone. I'm Antoine Lewis. How did a suspect flagged by the NYPD get a job inside a city school? That is the question at the hour after the arrest and the fatal stabbing of Brooklyn runner Katie Suarez. Fox 5's Teresa Priolo has more on our top story at noon. Hi, Teresa. Hi, Antoine. The mayor was here at a sanitation depot talking about winter weathered preparedness, but the conversation quickly turned to that top story, the death of Katie Suarez. And many are asking, how did the suspect charged in her death fall through the cracks? Now, Katie Suarez is the young woman who was brutally murdered after she was killed out for a run in Bath Beach. The man now accused of her murder, Syed Mushtaqib, spent just over a month on active NYPD in 2022 before going on military leave and then later resigning. When he sought reinstatement in January of 2023, supervisors reported concerning behavior. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital and he was never reinstated on the force. After all that, he was hired by the city DOE to work as a teacher's aide. Now there are questions about what the Department of Education knew before hiring him. I have directed my team to conduct a full review into this matter. I think Underlining the importance of the fact that nothing is more paramount than the safety of our students. And we know that when it comes to this specific case, New York City Public Schools has suspended the individual and is moving to terminate his employment pending the outcome of this case. Now at the school where Mohasib worked as a teacher's aide, parents are reeling. There was a letter that was sent to the school community and counseling is being made available. But for families, there's shock and there's questions about who was working alongside their children. When he talk, you can see he's not normal. Like, you know, he's like, and he just stare at you, even though you're saying something. And you can, you can recognize that he's not normal and how they allow him with the kids and with the special needs. Like, we are not safe. My daughter, she told me on TV, I saw this guy on the schools every time. I said, oh my God, how can a person like this be outside with the kids in the school? Now, Mohasib is facing second-degree murder charges, among other charges. We also want to mention that we just heard back from the military regarding his Marine service, Antoine. I just looked over the records. He was discharged without ever making it off of Parris Island, South Carolina. That's the Marine recruit camp there. His service in the military lasted all of about two weeks. That's the latest from the West Side today. Back to you in the studio. All right, Teresa, thank you so much for that.