Gang rivalry motive for Houston high school stabbings

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Gang rivalry motive for Houston high school stabbings

(Xinhua) 08:06, September 06, 2013

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HOUSTON, Sept. 5 -- Gang rivalry appeared to be the motive in the stabbings on a high school campus in Houston, a city in the U.S. state of Texas, that left one student dead and three others injured, investigators said Thursday.

Investigators said shortly after the tragedy that they were investigating the case if the incident was gang-related. They confirmed it Thursday but offered no details.

The suspect, the 17-year-old Luis Alonzo Alfaro, was charged with murder in the incident, which happened around 7:10 a.m. Wednesday in a hallway leading to a cafeteria on the Spring High School campus in northern Houston.

Alfaro made his first court appearance overnight and gave a voluntary statement detailing what happened exactly in the deadly stabbings, said the investigators.

According to court documents, Alfaro said he bumped into a student as he entered the cafeteria. The two exchanged words and shoved each other. Another student nearby shoved Alfaro and hit him in the face. Alfaro then pulled out a pocket knife from his shorts and opened it. He covered his face with his left forearm as he held the knife in his right hand and waved it back and forth.

The violence left Joshua Broussard, 17, stabbed to death at the scene and three others injured, one critically. All of the victims and the suspect were students.

The school, with about 3,000 students, was on lockdown all Wednesday morning as the investigation was carried out. Students were finally released shortly after noon. All classes have been called off through Friday.

Alfaro is being held in a county jail in lieu of a bond of 150, 000 U.S. dollars.

（Editor：LiangJun、Zhang Qian）