Three Teenagers Confess To Turf-Related Stabbing
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HEMPSTEAD — A teen turf war led to a brutal stabbing that left a middle-schooler on life support, police said.
Two 14-year-olds and a 15-year-old pleaded not guilty Saturday to assault and weapons possession in the attack, which happened shortly after the 13-year-old victim left Alverta B. Gray Schultz Middle School on Thursday. About a block from the school, he was stabbed in the head, Nassau County Police said. The suspects were being held on bail ranging from $50,000 to $100,000, or bond ranging from $100,000 to $200,000.
Hempstead Police Lt. Frank Edwards said the attack was an outgrowth of a long-running rivalry between teens from two Hempstead neighborhoods. The victim is from one; the suspects are from the other.
“It’s unorganized neighborhood groups that sometimes get into fights after school,” Mr. Edwards, who is the commanding officer of the force’s Juvenile Aid Bureau, said. “Usually it’s fists, but they stepped up the level of violence this time.”
Mr. Edwards said the victim of Thursday’s attack had also been stabbed last month, though it wasn’t clear whether the incidents were related.
