A bullied teen who tired of being antagonized, armed himself with a switchblade and stabbed his 15-year-old classmate to death inside their Bronx high school classroom.
The incident happened during history class.
Fully story:
Matthew McCree had flicked a pencil at his classmate moments before he was attacked in a fifth-floor classroom at the Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation.
16-year-old who came to McCree’s defense, was also slashed and remains hospitalized in critical condition.
Police arrested 18-year-old Abel Cedeno, who sources say was being bullied at school. Cedeno told detectives the two stabbed teens were “harassing him for awhile,” the source said.
The fight occurred around 10:50 a.m. About 20 minutes into their third-period history class when McCree tossed a pencil at Cedeno, who had gotten up to leave the room.
The pencil missed hitting Cedeno, but when the older teen turned, McCree stepped up to bully him again.
“That’s when everything happened,” said horrified classmate Jomarlyn Colon, 16, who witnessed the bloodbath.
As the two fought, students tried to break up the fight and hold Cedeno back, but he broke free and pulled the knife from his front pocket. He stabbed McCree, then turned his knife on Laboy.
“Everybody just stood back,” Colon recalled. “A few of them were holding Matthew. A few of them were holding towels on the wound. All the kids were crying and screaming.”
She said Cedeno just “went crazy.”
Paramedics rushed the two injured teens to St. Barnabas Hospital, where McRee succumbed to his fatal wounds. Laboy is in critical condition, with stab wounds to his chest, arm and flank.
This is the first time in nearly 25 years that a student was killed inside a city school, officials said.
After the chaos, Cedeno walked out of the class and willingly gave up his 3-inch, spring-action switchblade knife — to a school official.
He then sat in the assistant principal’s office waiting for police to arrive. The teen was interviewed at the 48th Precinct station house on Wednesday. No charges have been filed.
Family friend Norma Perez said Cedeno’s mother is stuck in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and couldn’t be by her arrested son’s side.
“She’s stuck in there because of the storm,” said Perez. “She must be really worried.”
Perez said she didn’t know what happened at the school — but didn’t believe Cedeno could be so violent.
“He’s a good kid. He would never do anything like that,” she said about Cedeno. “I just know that he’s not a (violent person).”
