Bed-Stuy Residents Shake Their Heads at 11-Year-Old Slash Suspect

By NICHOLAS WILLIAMS

Residents near a Bedford Stuyvesant Charter School were shocked on Thursday to hear that an 11-year-old boy slashed a 13-year-old boy in the face Wednesday morning.

Around 7:30 am, the two students, who knew each other and attended Uncommon Schools Leadership Prep Charter School, were on their way to the school when they got into an altercation causing 11-year-old to slash the 13-year-old. The altercation happened a block away from the school on MacDonough Street near Marcy Avenue.

The 13-year-old boy was rushed to the Maimonides Medical Center and received 78 stitches. The 11-year-old boy was later taken into custody and was charged as a juvenile and released to his family.

Mama Gee, a parent coordinator at Historic Boys and Girls High School in Bedford Stuyvesant, heard the news of the two students Thursday morning and was baffled since her own experience with students does not illuminate why the students resorted to violence rather than talking things out.

“I don’t blame everything on the parenting, there’s so many elements that raise our children,” Gee said. “Obviously it was anger, something made him angry, there are so many things that play a part.”

Barbara Martinez, a spokeswoman for the school, released a statement: “We share our deep concern for the students involved in yesterday morning’s incident which happened outside of school. We are cooperating with law enforcement and are focused on supporting the families and students involved, as well as our school community at-large.”

Residents near the school were asking what prompted the slashing.

“That’s terrible! We’re supposed to love each other, not kill each other,” said John Kimpson, a Bedstuy native.” They’re kids, but they’re not being taught nothing. A lot of our people are loss, a lot of these kids aren’t being taught nothing, they want to be on the computers, we need to come together as people, we need unity!

“The children today are too angry, they watch too much TV, they take it out on parents and classmates,” said Marcia, a 70 year old neighbor of he school. “It’s shameful, the parents should take responsibility. It is not okay, why would you want to slash someone?”