Del valle hostage incident

Circa 1969 (please provide correct date), at Del Valle Elementary School in the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District located in La Puente, California, a first (possibly second) grade teacher named Mr. Poly (spelling in doubt could also be Polly, Pauli, Poli, Pali, etc.) was informed that he did not make tenure.

Upon entering his class the next day, he moved the cabinets in his classroom making a mini-room (hereafter referred to as his "office"). He then drew the curtains and waited for students to arrive. When the students arrived, they were excited believing it to be a movie day. Once all the students arrived, he ordered them all to put their heads on their desks and wait for instructions.

About this time the principal came by and asked Mr. Poly what he was doing. Mr. Poly said "I've built an office - I'm at least entitled to that - aren't I?" The principal suggested that Mr. Poly come by during recess to talk about his having an office.

After this, Mr. Poly locked the door.

He then proceeded to call names and as each child was called he put them in his "office". When he was done - he also went into the "office". Crying was heard by those not in the "office" from kids in the "office". One girl noticed that there was only 1 boy not in the "office" and informed him that maybe his name was called and he didn't notice because only girls were not in the "office". That boy went to report.

Mr. Poly came out of the "office" and was telling the little boy that he wasn't called and to return to his seat. At this time the biggest boy in the class broke out of the "office", but was grabbed by the teacher by the shirt collar. The big boy told the other little boy that Mr. Poly is hurting us - go get help.

The little boy bolted and Mr. Poly pulled out a gun and told him to stop. The little boy did. Mr. Poly asked if the little boy could outrun a bullet and the little boy said, "No!, but.. I can outrun you!" and bolted out the door. The boy tripped on a tree root outside the door and fell with the wind knocked out of him.

Mr. Poly then shot 4 times at the boy. People in the next class room screamed - but that teacher did not help. The boy got up and ran to a different room. He related the story to Mrs. Bear, but she had doubts and came to check out the situation herself. When she was visible to Mr. Poly, he shot 2 rounds at her (his gun was now empty).

Mrs. Bear, however, got help.

The police negotiated with Mr. Poly's lawyer and he was dragged out of the class and brought to the boy and asked if this was the man who had shot at him. He said yes. There was clapping and cheering and he was escorted away by the police.

One of the most disparaging parts of this incident is that the teacher, Mr. Poly, was a paraplegic. The parents had spent quite a bit of time getting the children used to such a man as a teacher. The fact that he could not walk without making a horrible scraping noise from the taps on his shoes didn't help. But, in the end the parents prevailed and his students actually liked him. Until this incident anyway.

There is a detailed article about this incident published by a local paper called "The Valley Journal" about the boy called "Little Hero" (please provide date).

There was another much shorter article published the next day by "The Herald Examiner" about the incident.

This was also a case where the little local paper out-scooped the larger syndicate.