By Anthony Rifilato
At the shopping center last week, students said people in school are shaken but going about their business as usual. "This is the most serious," said one student who saw the fight. "The principal made announcements in school and our parents are concerned."
Police said they have not linked the victims to any gangs, though two suspects who were arrested in connection with the fight are said to be affiliated with the Latin Kings.
The Baldwin brawl came less than a month after a student in nearby Roosevelt was killed in a drive-by shooting. Some students who witnessed the fight or heard about it said it was gang-related, but others said the victims were mistakenly targeted and not gang members.
"It's messed up because he's a great guy," a student said of one of the teenage victims. She explained that he was trying to break up the fight. "He's not a violent guy."
But several students said that Baldwin High does have gang members walking its hallways. A senior said that she believes the problem of gang violence is ignored by school officials, but that most of the gang activity comes from outside the school.
Parents, too, said they are feeling wary. "If these were regular students and they were not involved in gangs, it's scarier, because any kid can be targeted," said Marguerite Kreuzer, who has two children in the high school.
Another parent who wished to remain anonymous said she believes school administrators are doing what they can, but that parents are nervous. She also said the incident would draw more attention to the issue of gang violence.
Merchants in the Shopping Center said they were concerned about school incidents spilling over into the center. "I blame school security. They should be over there," one employee said, pointing to "the pit," the open space in the shopping center parking lot adjacent to Global and next to school grounds.
Students and local businesses said that the area is fertile ground for drug deals and brawls. "There should be a police car patrolling the area," said Carmela Ragucci, co-owner of the Grand Unisex Barbers in the shopping center.
The people who witnessed the incident described a gruesome scene. A CVS employee, who didn't give his name, said the fight started on the side of the shopping center, with a small group making verbal exchanges, but escalated as more people gathered on the scene. He said the fight was initially two on two, but that eventually the victims were outnumbered seven or eight to four.
"A kid took out a blade while they were wrestling," the CVS employee said.
Several Global employees witnessed the aftermath of the stabbings. One, who gave his name only as John, said that two of the victims were bleeding profusely. There was a lot of blood, he said, and he and other employees brought out paper towels to help the victims until emergency crews arrived.
"I'm traumatized," he said. "The kids were trying to
run away but couldn't make it. They dropped right in front of the store."
One of the victims had a gash on the side of his head, employees said, and the other had stab wounds on his back and elbow. The elbow wound was so severe, employees said, that the bone was visible.
Beyond all the speculation and armchair commentary, the fact remains that three people were seriously hurt, two of them teenagers.
Last Friday, one of the victims had returned to school and was walking by Global Furniture with friends. He refused to comment on the fight, but when asked how he was feeling by a reporter, he said, "I'm all right."
