A typically quiet first day of class for one Canarsie High School student erupted into a bloody confrontation with a knife-wielding perpetrator who stabbed him in the chest on Rockaway Parkway Tuesday morning.
Investigators explained that the 18-year-old victim and a group of students from the school, located on Rockaway Parkway and Avenue J, were nearing Flatlands Avenue just before 11 a.m. when they began arguing with an unidentified group of males.
The two groups fought and the teen was stabbed in the chest during the fray, officials said.
Witnesses said that the assailant fled into a nearby L train station during his escape. He remained at large as this paper went to press.
Investigators said that the victim was rushed to Brookdale Hospital where he was listed in stable condition after treatment.
Investigators did not disclose what prompted the argument.
News of the stabbing didn’t spread to Canarsie High School until the school day was over. According to a teacher at the school, classes proceeded as scheduled.
“It was pretty low key. There was no uproar. The only thing that seemed awry was the news trucks,” explained K.S. Ahluwalia, a biology teacher and Canarsie High School’s United Federation of Teachers (UFT) chapter leader.
Officials from the Department of Education (DOE) did not comment on the stabbing, since it took place two blocks away from Canarsie High School and not on school grounds.
There were no other violent incidents involving students throughout the city, a DOE spokesperson said.
The incident comes on the heels of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NYPD officials announcing that crime has dropped at Canarsie High School, which is on the city’s “impact” list of the most dangerous schools in the five boroughs.
According to city data released last month, major crimes are down 14 percent at Canarsie.
Cops are asking anyone with information regarding the stabbing to come forward.
Calls can be made to the 69th Precinct at (718) 257-6211. All calls will be kept confidential.
— with Michèle De Meglio
