Gustine principal returns to school after attack

An elementary school principal, who earlier this month was slashed in the face by two men who remain at large, returned to work Monday.

Ishmael Munoz, 37, came back to Gustine Elementary School 11 days after he was attacked at school. He couldn’t be reached for comment Monday.

Superintendent Ronald Estes confirmed Munoz’s return. “He’s back at work, and we also brought in a retired principal to help out this week,” Estes said.

Bill Parks, who served as interim principal at the school last year, has been tabbed to help Munoz catch up on work that backlogged while he was recovering, Estes said.

Munoz was attacked Dec. 4 by two men, one who apparently distracted Munoz and another who slashed his face with a box cutter. The motive for the attack remains unclear, the Gustine Police Department has said.

Chief Doug Dunford on Monday released descriptions of the suspects. He described them as Hispanic adults, 20 to 30 years old. One man was said to be about 5 feet, 1 inch tall and the other about 5 feet, 8 inches tall. The man who wielded the box cutter was believed to be wearing a red San Francisco 49ers jersey with a number 7.

Immediately after the attack, Munoz raced back into the school office and ordered a campus lockdown to ensure the safety of the roughly 570 students who attend the school, according to investigators.

Officers examined security-camera footage but have said the videos did not capture any useful information.

School officials added new security measures after the attack, and police have increased the number of officers and frequency of patrols on and around the campus, Dunford said.

One such measure now requires parents to wait for their children outside the school’s security gates, and students are sent out to their parents under staff supervision, district officials have said.

This story was originally published December 16, 2014 at 10:55 AM with the headline "Gustine principal returns to school after attack."