THE BRONX — An 8-year-old boy slashed a 9-year-old classmate with a doubled-edged razor during recess at a troubled Bronx public school Tuesday, the NYPD said.
The boys were on the playground at P.S. 132 in Morrisania when the 8-year-old sliced the 9-year-old on the back of the neck.
The 9-year-old, who was identified as Richard Kinney by WABC-TV and other outlets, was taken to Bronx Lebanon Hospital, where he was in stable condition, cops said. The boy received six stitched on the back of his neck, the television station reported.
The 8-year-old was charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
“That's just disturbing,” said 27-year-old Elisa Cartagena, who has a niece and a nephew who attend P.S. 132. “How is the security in the school? An 8-year-old — how does this happen?”
School safety officers flanked the doorways during dismissal Wednesday afternoon, as children filed out of the building.
“I won’t say it’s safe here,” said 17-year-old Jennifer Valedez, who was picking her brother, who is 9. “My mother has come here to complain about my brother being bullied, and they haven’t done anything.”
News reports say the 8-year-old suspect told police he’d been bullied by his victim before the altercation.
“It’s just sad that our children have to resort to that,” said Gwendolyn Primus, a former Parent Association president at the school, speaking of the slashing. Primus is a graduate of P.S. 132 herself, and has four grown children who all attended the school. Her grandson Tashown, 10, is currently in fourth grade there.
Bullying and fights between students at the school are common, Primus says, adding that a friend has a daughter in kindergarten who recently came home from school with a black eye, given to her by another youngster.
“The school needs more conflict resolution,” Primus said. “The anti-bullying program is not being followed properly.”
But Jacqueline Banks, who has a daughter in third grade and a grandson in kindergarten at the school, said P.S. 132 has been a positive influence on her daughter, who was struggling with math and reading before she started there this year.
“As far as the teaching goes, I love it,” she said. “I don’t know about everything else.”
Staff at the school referred questions to the Department of Education.
“We are providing more support to the school to address yesterday’s incident,” DOE spokeswoman Marge Feinberg said in an e-mailed statement.
In recent months, students at the school had grown so out of control that administrators canceled its fifth-grade graduation ceremony, news reports said in June. It was replaced with a "moving-up" ceremony open to only select students.
