FEAR AT SCHOOL
Fallout from fight, stab, car hits at Truman HS in Bronx
A wild melee outside the Harry Truman high school in the Bronx had some students wary about returning Wednesday — and left families furious.
The Tuesday brawl ended with a 17-yearold stabbed in the back of the head, and four students nursing injuries from a car that careened onto a crowded sidewalk.
Family members of the stabbing victim allege he was ambushed by a group of teenage gang members — and that the boy’s older brother, who was driving the car, was just trying to escape with his life when he lost control of his BMW SUV and crashed into people.
“That car was not trying to run over anyone, that car was trying to get away from the gang assault,” said the victim’s mother, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity. “They were attacking my sons in the car.”
Police sources said the older brother of the victim has five prior arrests and is affiliated with a gang.
“It was scary,” said Romesha Lewif, a 17-year-old senior at Harry Truman High School who witnessed the brawl on her way out of school.
“I didn’t want to come to school [Wednesday]. It’s just traumatic, it’s not easy, it’s hard cause like a lot happened and I didn’t even know why we came to school today,” she said.
The stabbing victim, who doesn’t attend
Truman, said he drove to the high school with his older brother and his sister, who works at one of the schools in the building and was getting dropped off by the brothers. A man on a scooter spotted the teen and asked him where he was from and whether he was with a gang, the boy told The News.
“I said I’m not from nowhere, I’m here to pick up my friend,” the 17-year-old recalled.
The scooter-riding man returned with a large group and surrounded the car, pummeling all three siblings and stabbing the 17-yearold in the back of the head, the teen said.
The younger brother and sister jumped out of the car and the older brother stepped on the gas — spinning out of control, hitting another car and a utility pole and injuring five people nearby, including four teenagers and a 21-year-old woman, police said.
The 17-year-old ran to the school building to seek shelter, but was knocked down by a school bus driver wielding a chair, he said.
“He tried to punch me ... and it’s not like I can fend for myself because any type of moving action and you can bleed out,” the teen said.
Police said no shots were fired, but that students may have heard the sound of a car backfiring.
The teen, who was recovering at home Wednesday, said he’s grateful “we came out of this with minor injuries. It could’ve been way worse to be honest.”
But some students are still processing the violence.
“I’m just like, ‘the school that I go to, this just happened,’” said Marquise Stewart, a 17-year-old senior. “I feel like it was OK, but I just feel like not safe no more cause it just happened really quick.”