15-Year-Old Student Stabbed To Death Outside Middle School In East LA
EAST LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Deputies were called Friday to East Los Angeles, where a teen student was fatally stabbed outside David Wark Griffith Junior High School.
Friends identified the victim as 15-year-old Steven Cruz, a student at nearby Garfield High School.
CBS2/KCAL9's Peter Daut spoke to the teen's girlfriend and best friend. They say Cruz was shy, a good student and passionate about skateboarding.
They said Cruz was on the way home when he stopped at the middle school to see friends. He allegedly was confronted by a teen boy, described by the victim's friends as a gang member, who asked Cruz where he was from before stabbing him with an unknown object.
L.A. County Fire reports they were dispatched at 3:08 p.m. to the school, located at 4765 East 4th Street, where they found the victim suffering serious injuries. The stabbing occurred outside in the front area of the campus.
The boy was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the L.A. County Sheriff's Department.
The Los Angeles Unified School District said the victim was not stabbed with scissors, as earlier reported by law enforcement, only confirming it was a sharp object.
The suspect ran off before paramedics and deputies arrived. Authorities don't have a description of the alleged killer but are asking that anyone with information contact the LACSD's Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. Anonymous tips can be made by calling "Crime Stoppers" at (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637). Tips can also be left anonymously online at lacrimestoppers.org.