By Jacques Steinberg
MOUNT VERNON, N.Y., Oct. 25 – A lawyer for the 17-year-old student charged with fatally stabbing another student at Mount Vernon High School on Monday said today that his client had acted in self-defense after being attacked by the victim and several other students in a hallway.
But the Mount Vernon Police Chief, Michael J. Craparo, said it was not clear whether the victim, , had been one of at least four youths who had accosted the suspect, .
That fight, in which was cut on the forehead, led to the stabbing of , the police said. , also 17, was a star center fielder on the school baseball team.
The mood at Westchester County’s largest high school – it has 2,600 students – remained tense. An undercover police officer and a reinforced detail of 32 security guards patrolled the hallways and detectives continued their investigation, interviewing more than a dozen witnesses.
After a fire alarm sounded, more than 50 students left the school and marched about a half mile to the Board of Education headquarters to protest safety conditions. The police said that the 10-minute demonstration, which included several adults, had been peaceful and lasted about 10 minutes.
At the red-and-tan-brick school, a team of psychologists, social workers and guidance counselors visited classrooms to soothe jittery nerves.
Some students spoke of the need for metal detectors, a measure that has been rejected in the past by the Board of Education. But others said that their fears – fanned over the years by glimpses of smuggled knives and box cutters – would not be eased by security devices alone.
“We have to start with the mentality of the students who go here,” one young woman said at a group counseling session. She added that even with metal detectors students would find a way to smuggle in weapons.
At his arraignment in Mount Vernon City Court this morning, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder. He was ordered held without bail pending a preliminary hearing on Monday.
In an interview, lawyer, Todd Greenberg, asserted that had been part of the group that had attacked his client and provoked the stabbing. He said that – who was cut above the right eyebrow and required about five stitches – would probably mount a self-defense defense.
Chief Craparo said that in the moments before was stabbed, was cornered against a wall by his attackers, knocked to the ground and slashed with a knife wielded by someone has been unable to identify. wrested the knife away and, moments later, stabbed three times in the neck, the chief said.
Investigators have not yet determined whether was one of assailants or someone who got caught in the second-floor hallway at the wrong time, the chief said.
