Feb. 27, 2004 – Nine days after a Charlotte Amalie High School youth was stabbed on the campus, an Education official said students and staff were confined to classrooms and other facilities for 45 minutes on Friday while police chased a fleeing suspect in a domestic disturbance through the school grounds.
According to St. Thomas-St. John schools superintendent William Frett, a domestic dispute in Estate Thomas, where the school is located, provoked the incident that resulted in students and staff being confined to classrooms and other facilities for the period.
"The alleged assailant, in attempting to elude capture by the police, entered the campus," Frett said Friday afternoon. At the time, he said, students and faculty were taking part in a Black History Month program.
St. Thomas Deputy Police Chief Elvin Fahie said officers chased a suspect who "ran across the campus with a machete in his hand." The man got away, he said.
Students were kept inside school buildings while police were in pursuit of the man. Afterward, Frett said, classes and the Black History Month program resumed.
Frett described as erroneous reports the lockdown was "a result of a student with a gun on campus."
CAHS safety concerns were raised last week after a 19-year-old student was stabbed on Feb. 18 during a fight on the school grounds. The victim stepped in between his brother and a non-student with a knife during a confrontation near Building B. The wounded student was treated at Roy L. Schneider Hospital and released the following day.
Following that incident, CAHS Principal Jeanette Smith said that security on the high school campus is "not adequate" for keeping out unauthorized persons.
Back Talk
Share your reaction to this news with other Source readers. Please include headline, your name, and the city and state/country or island where you reside.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
