Councilman Against New Hyattsville Area Elementary School

Hyattsville police have no new information about but according to one city councilman, the site of the crime – – has been the site of other mishaps in the recent past.

Carlos Lizanne (Ward 4) lives three houses down from where a 13-year-old boy was shot in the hip by another juvenile who allegedly opened fire on a group of children who were playing at the corner of Nicholson Street and Maryhurst Drive.

“About one month ago the same thing happened,” Lizanne said.

At that time, he said, a representative from called Lizanne, whose granddaughter attends the nearby school, because police had been called to the scene of kids fighting outside the school. The school had heard there was a pistol involved, but police found no gun, said Lizanne, who has lived in that house for 34 years.

“There always has been trouble around that school,” he said. “My impression is that it’s [racial issues] between white and black and Hispanic. This area is what we call the poor side of town.”

The Hyattsville City Council on May 31 gave a slight nod to including traffic flow.

Paul Taylor, director of capital programs for Prince George’s County Public Schools brought a revised site plan, which has all school traffic removed from Nicholson Street.

“All traffic comes from the north side and Editor’s Park Drive,” he said.

The new plan divides up traffic on the site—car traffic comes toward the east side and bus traffic comes on the north side of the school.

But in Lizanne’s mind, traffic isn’t the only potential problem.

“There’s going to be a fight between the schools,” he said. “I’m sure there’s going to be trouble.”

The new school will sit on about 20 acres of property behind NOMS and will be just less than 80,000, serving about 792 pupils, initial plans indicate.

“I’m 100 percent against that school,” Lizanne said. “The lot is not that big for that type of school. It’s going to be more dangerous [because of cars] speeding. In every way they chose the worst place for that school.”

Requests for comment from the school system have not yet been answered.