16-Year-Old Stabbed In The Neck In The Bronx
NEW YORK (CBS New York) -- A Bronx high school student is fighting for his life after he was stabbed in the neck as he walked to school on Wednesday.
The stabbing happened just outside P.S. 12, a high school for special needs students.
Negro Rivera, 16, was on his way to P.S. 12, where he is a student, when he was attacked with a pair of scissors, the handles wrapped in tape.
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WCBS 880's Marla Diamond reports
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1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria reports
Rivera's mother rushed to Jacobi Hospital after the attack.
"I couldn't breathe, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't talk," Cassandra Rivera said. "I just ran over there. That's my baby, I wanted to make sure he's fine."
Rivera admits her son was troubled, but can't believe he suffered such a brutal attack.
Witnesses told police that several students from nearby Lehman High School jumped Rivera as he approached P.S. 12, and someone plunged the scissors into his neck.
"He had a big hole in his neck and blood was coming out, a lot of blood," student Aleena Mendez said. "He got stabbed from the boys from the other school."
"Some kids say that he's a bully, kids get picked on and stuff like that," student Eric DeJesus said.
"I feel bad for him because I think he goes through problems at home, like with his father or his mother," another student told 1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria. "So I feel bad for him, but that doesn't give him a reason to come and bully other kids in school."
Police were investigating reports that the attack was done on behalf of a student Rivera had bullied. Rivera's mother said her son complained of being bullied.
"Finally, my son got fed up and he's not taking it no more, but I guess, you know, the past caught up to him," Rivera said.
Cassandra Rivera said she recently filed a so-called "PINS" petition to have her son put into foster care and transferred out of P.S. 12.
The teenager underwent hours of surgery at Jacobi Medical Center to repair his jugular vein. He remains in critical condition Wednesday night.
Security was stepped up at both P.S. 12 and nearby Lehman High School on Wednesday. So far, no arrests have been made.
