Sixth-grader stabbed by classmate

YUCCA VALLEY — A 12-year-old boy’s lung was punctured when a fellow sixth-grader stabbed him after school Wednesday afternoon.The boy’s father said Friday he is recovering in an area hospital, where doctors performed emergency surgery to put a drainage tube in his chest.

“He’s been in terrible pain,” said the Yucca Valley man, who asked that his family’s identity be withheld.The stabbing occurred after the victim was told the other boy, who is 13, had inappropriately touched a female friend of the victim. The victim confronted the older boy about the incident and told him not to touch the girl again.
The victim’s father said he was told the 13-year-old brought a knife to school Wednesday and told others he intended to use it to stab the boy who had confronted him.
The man learned that after classes, as groups of students walked home from school, the boy with the knife asked the 12-year-old if he was afraid and showed him the weapon.

The 12-year-old pushed the 13-year-old to the ground, but the older boy got up and stabbed the victim under the arm.
Bleeding, the victim stanched the wound with a towel he happened to have because the school had hosted a field day and walked about a half-mile to a friend’s house.

“All of a sudden my son ran in the door. ‘Dad, Dad, (my friend) was stabbed! He’s bleeding!” said Tracy Hunter, mom to the victim’s best friend.

Hunter’s husband called the victim’s father.
“I raced down there, picked him up and raced him right to the hospital,” the man said.

By Friday, the boy’s condition was improving and his family hoped he would be released today.

They are torn between pride that their son stood up for a friend and regret that he didn’t tell the authorities instead of confronting a fellow student himself.

“He stands up against bullies. That sometimes gets him into trouble,” said his father.

The boy also missed his sixth-grade promotion Friday, where he was scheduled to get the President’s Award for Academics.

The suspect was taken to juvenile hall.

The victim’s father said he was told the district attorney did not intend to press charges, something Deputy District Attorney Karen Martinez could neither confirm nor deny since the suspect is a juvenile and protected by strict privacy laws.

Source:http://www.hidesertstar.com/articles/2009/06/13/news/doc4a33475a3cc61062732157.txt