Ex-School Security Guard: Boy Suspected In New Rochelle Stabbing Had History Of Violence
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A student stabbing outside a middle school in New Rochelle this week was apparently the latest in a series of incidents involving a troubled eighth grader.
As CBS2's Lou Young reported, the 13-year-old boy suspected of stabbing his classmate has had discipline problems dating back to his first year at the Isaac Young Middle School.
A former security guard told CBS2 the student attacked him when he was in the sixth grade.
"As a 12-year-old, would you ever think of punching a retired detective in the face, a security officer, three times?" said former security guard Vincent Mirabile. "So I felt there was something wrong with him a year and a half ago when I first met him."
Mirabile, who is also a retired police detective, now runs a cigar shop in New Rochelle. He said the stabbing incident that left a 14-year-old boy hospitalized on Wednesday is not surprising given the level of anger and violence he witnessed in 2014.
"I saw the rage in his eyes. He was enraged," Mirabile said. "He came off the playing field. He wanted to beat this kid up. He had tears coming down his face. He had that enraged look in his eyes, that he really wanted to go after the other student. He looked scary."
Mirabile said he was pressured to resign because of the amount of force he used to restrain the child, and the student was not disciplined. Parents arriving to pick up their kids the day after the attack say the school tries to strike a balance, often giving troubled students second and third chances.
"I think there's quite a few kids like that," said parent Robert Crovatto. "But I think they try to keep everything low key, so not to get the parents all riled up."
"The parents should've tried to, like, find some type of help for this child," said parent Wanda Notaro.
Mirabile said the school is failing to keep students disciplined and under control.
"They're scared to do their adults and administrators," he said. "If a child has a behavioral issue, he should be dealt with."
A New Rochelle schools representative said, "The district does not comment on matters related to former employees or on the disciplinary status of any student."
New Rochelle police said they have no record of the 2014 incident. Former security guard Mirabile confirmed that no police report was filed because the school did not want to involve police.
In the Wednesday incident, a crossing guard called 911 after the older boy was stabbed in the chest near the school just before 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.
"We had an altercation with two students from our eighth grade a block or so away on Trinity Place," Principal Anthony Bongo said Wednesday.
Both the suspect and the victim are enrolled in a morning program that meets before classes start. They left the school after the program ended and that was when the violence broke out, Bongo said.
The victim was rushed by ambulance to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. The boy's injuries do not appear to be life threatening, police said.
