8-Year-Old Recovering Well From Head Injury in Rock Throwing Incident • Jewish Breaking News

A school bus carrying third graders on a class trip from the Liberty Science Center back to their school, Yeshivat Noam in Teaneck, New Jersey, was struck by a rock the size of a baseball. The rock smashed through a window and hit an 8-year-old girl in the head, fracturing her skull and sending her to the hospital for surgery. The child is at Hackensack University Medical Center and is expected to make a full recovery.

Officials seeking the perpetrator were cautious about labeling the incident antisemitic. The bus was not labeled as Jewish, but the students were visibly Jewish. “There’s no indication it’s a bias crime,” said Teaneck Mayor Mark J. Schwartz. “At the same time, it was a slow-moving bus off a ramp with visibly Jewish kids inside.”

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“We don’t want to rush to make accusations of antisemitism or racism,” he added. “But because of the times we’re in and the fact that was a yeshiva bus with visibly Jewish kids, we’re treading carefully.”

The mayor, along with Deputy Mayor Elie Y. Katz, offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the suspect. Katz served as mayor of Teaneck from 2006 to 2008 as the youngest-ever mayor and also the first Orthodox Jew to hold the office.

“Right now, we’re just really trying to find leads,” Schwartz said. “If we find out who the person is, we’ll find out the motive. We’re offering a $5,000 reward from our pocket to start the reward process. That’s not from the town; that’s from our personal pockets.”

The attacker was arrested on Friday and identified as Hernando Garciamorales. The 40-year-old was found at a campsite and confessed to throwing the rock. In a statement on Facebook, New Jersey State Police said, “The investigation also linked Garciamorales to multiple rock-throwing incidents in Bogota Borough, Bergen County.” The incident is not being treated as a bias crime.

“He has been charged with aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, endangering the welfare of a child, criminal mischief, resisting arrest by flight, and hindering. Hernando Garciamorales was lodged in the Bergen County Jail pending a detention hearing,” the statement added.

It is not yet known if any of the promised reward money was paid out.

In a letter to parents, Rabbi Chaim Hagler, head of school at Yeshivat Noam, expressed the school’s relief and gratitude “for the swift, coordinated response and outstanding communication among all law enforcement agencies, elected officials, and community organizations involved.” He added that “law enforcement has stated there is no evidence that this incident was bias-related” and wrote that the student who was struck is doing well.

The school “has deployed its mental health and guidance teams to support the students and their families,” Hagler wrote. “Please know that the safety and well-being of our students remain our highest priority.”