A classroom dispute at Long Island City H.S. last week turned bloody when a 16-year-old student was stabbed in the back, police said.
The teen, whose name was not released, was taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center for treatment of the stab wound and other lacerations he suffered in the attack. The student remains in stable condition at Elmhurst Hospital Center, authorities said.
Police at the 114th Precinct who responded to a 911 call by school administrators arrested two suspects shortly after the September 22 incident.
The two students were identified by eyewitnesses to the 12:50 p.m. attack and were arrested outside the school.
Police sources said the stabbing took place inside a classroom at the school on Broadway near 21st Street in Long Island City.
Acting on a tip from school sources, police arrested two more students later that day, who were hiding out at the Astoria home of one of the suspects.
Jerome Davis, 17, Daniel Nicolas, 18, Luis Giron, 19, and an unidentified 15-year-old were charged with gang assault and harassment.
Investigators have not released full details of the classroom brawl that led to the stabbing.
Meanwhile, incidents of students caught inside schools with weapons or dangerous items like blades and box cutters dropped to 1,162 in the last school year, from 1,259 in the 2009-2010 school year, police officials said.
Regardless of the improvement, city and school officials have decided that scanning conducted at 88 Department of Education buildings, housing 150 schools, will remain in place.
Students in six new schools wait on 29-minute lines before entering the buildings – removing belts and jewelry and having cellphones and open drink containers confiscated during routine searches, student advocates said.
In bold contrast, students at older schools walk through security checkpoints with a swipe of their ID cards. Students at old and new schools routinely sneak cellphones and iPods through the checkpoints.
“It’s clear that some students feel their schools are more like jails than institutions of education,” a police source said. “They have to realize these measures are installed for their safety.”
Security at Long Island City H.S. will be re-evaluated in light of the stabbing, police sources said. The school is one of the Department of Education buildings currently without screening.