In one of the more disturbing incidents of in-school violence in recent years, a 15-year-old Brooklyn student was repeatedly stabbed in the head with a pair of scissors by a classmate after an argument that started during a basketball game.
As reported by the Associated Press, New York Daily News and a variety of other sources, 15-year-old Brooklyn (N.Y.) Erasmus Hall student Afredo Allen, who is pictured above, was brutally attacked by 16-year-old Erasmus student Chevoy Nelson after Allen stole the ball from him during a pickup basketball game during the pair's lunch break.
According to student witnesses, Allen stole the ball from Nelson during a game, then refused to return it to the 16-year-old, who was described to the Daily News as an emotionally disturbed special ed student. After punching Allen in the face, Nelson ran out to find a weapon.
"He goes running around, asking everyone for a weapon," a police member told the Daily News. "He goes into a classroom and asks a teacher for acid. She obviously says no, but then she get distracted he grabs a pair of scissors and runs back to the gym. He chases [Allen] around, stabbing him."
As one might expect, other students in the school's third floor gym were horrified as the episode unfolded.
"I saw his head wide open," said freshman David Scott, 15, who had been playing soccer.
"I was like, 'oh my god!' I ran out, I didn't need to see that," [freshman Jessica Scott] said.
"He went behind (Allen) and grabbed him by his neck and stabbed him seven times," Sanchez said. "[Allen] was screaming, he was saying, 'oh s--t.' He didn't believe it either."
She said she fled."I saw all the blood and I ran. I didn't want him coming after me," Sanchez said.
The incident is the latest sign of troubling times at Erasmus Hall, once a famed Brooklyn school which is now host to multiple schools on the same campus, with members of the four different schools which share the same campus occasionally coming to clashes. This incident certainly speaks to that conflict, with Nelson attending Erasmus' School for Service and Learning while Allen, who is an avid football player, attends Erasmus' School for Youth and Community development. According to the Daily News, an internal survey by the New York City Education Department found that only two-thirds of the students at the school feel safe walking in its hallways on a day-to-day basis.
Nelson's frightening attack certainly won't engender more feelings of safety, and might even lead to charges that go beyond the assault with weapon charges currently facing the teen, depending on whether Allen survives; the victim is currently in critical condition after extensive surgery at Brooklyn's King's County Hospital.
"He was lying on the floor and he wasn't moving. There was blood all over the floor and around his body. I wanted to cry," Trevina Johnson, who described herself as one of Allen's best friends, told the Daily News. "He was mad quiet, he didn't bother nobody. He's such a good person."
Want more on the best stories in high school sports? Visit RivalsHigh or connect with Prep Rally on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.