Student in Custody for Stabbing Death at Coral Gables High
An argument turned into a murder before lunch time
By TODD WRIGHT
Updated 7:26 PM EDT, Tue, Sep 15, 2009
One student stabbed another to death during a fight Tuesday in a courtyard at a suburban high school, authorities said.
Sources say the attacker is Andy Rodriguez, a student that attended the school. He was taken into custody immediately after the stabbing at Coral Gables Senior High School.
Rodriguez got into an argument with 17-year-old Juan Carlos Rivera, who suffered a fatal stab wound.
School Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said a fight happened sometime after 9 a.m. as students moved from first- to second-period classes. He could not say what the two students were arguing about or how many others saw the stabbing.
Student Felix Cedeno said he was on his way to the restroom when he saw a fight between two other students. One pulled out what looked like a switchblade or a box cutter and stabbed the other three times, he said.
"I saw the guy bleeding, I saw a guy in pain holding his chest and as soon as he fell to the ground I ran over to help him as soon as I could," Cedeno said.
In the hours after the stabbing, frantic parents gathered near the football field outside of the school, which remained on lockdown until into the afternoon. Students were encouraged to remain throughout the day, though they could leave if their parents picked them up.
The superintendent said lunch and water were provided in classrooms, and psychologists trained in crisis management were dispatched to the school to talk to staff and students.
Sharon Watson, vice president of fundraising and former president of the school's parent-teacher organization, told the Miami Herald that school administrators contacted parents of students involved in the fight.
"If you have not heard anything -- even from your child -- everything's OK," she said.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC Miami
First Published: Sep 15, 2009 1:11 PM EDT
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