ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – What was supposed to be a typical day at school left a local student permanently scarred and disfigured.

Those are the claims an Albuquerque family recently made in a lawsuit, claiming the girl’s teacher encouraged them to sword fight in class. 

“She still doesn’t have full range of motion or mobility or strength in her dominant hand. She can’t move her thumb or her wrist the way she used to. It prevents her from doing day-to-day activities you and I might not have a problem with at all, she struggles with,” said Jessica Hernandez, attorney. 

This all happened at Volcano Vista High School in May 2022.

According to the lawsuit, a chemistry class took a turn after the teacher – Loviata Mitchell – told the students she had a surprise for them. She then brought out two swords, telling students they were props. 

One was a Japanese samurai sword. The other a sword used for fencing. 

Mitchell told the students to move the desks, set a timer for two minutes, and encouraged them to fight.

“People send their kids to school thinking and hoping schools are going to protect their kids, and that’s exactly opposite of what happened here,” said Hernandez. 

The lawsuit claims when a sophomore girl went up for her turn, her classmate slashed her wrist. 

The injury severed tendons and nerves. She went through surgery, but she has permanent damage. 

Mitchell reportedly said, “I’m in trouble,” and ordered the students to delete any videos of the sword fighting. 

“We’ve just been completely shocked from day one because it’s so hard to imagine why a teacher would be the one to put these deadly weapons in the hands of high school kids, and direct them to fight one another,” Hernandez said. 

No one reportedly called 911 for thirty minutes. 

The family also has a problem with the incident report written up by the school’s assistant principal, Manual Alzaga, who is also being sued. 

“From that report, it did not seem to us like a full investigation was done and that there may have been an attempt to deflect liability away from the district,” said Hernandez. 

That report indicates Mitchell said she brought the swords to teach a lesson on metal and melding. But the family and their attorney has one lingering question for her. 

“I would love to ask the teacher what she was thinking that day,” said Hernandez. 

An APS spokesperson says Mitchell was fired two months after the incident. 

Alzaga, meanwhile, is still an assistant principal at Volcano Vista High School. 

The family is suing for damages, and hopes schools will reevaluate how they handle medical emergencies.