A 16-year-old boy who was stabbed during a fight outside St. Thomas High School in Pointe-Claire on Tuesday has died.
The news was confirmed in a letter sent to the John Rennie High School community on Thursday, where the teen was a student.
“It is with profound sadness that I am informing you of the tragic death of a 16-year-old John Rennie High School student,” wrote principal Jennifer Kurta.
“He was one of the students injured on Tuesday afternoon during an altercation that occurred between two groups of students near St. Thomas High School.”
John Rennie High School is located roughly two kilometres from St. Thomas, or a five-minute drive.
Another Lester B. Pearson School Board student, 15, was also injured during the altercation but did not suffer life-threatening injuries.
Three teens, all minors, were arrested in connection with the incident.
Two of them, a 16-year-old and 17-year-old, were released on a promise to appear in court at a later date, police said Wednesday.
The third, also 16, appeared in youth court on Wednesday where he pleaded not guilty to seven charges including attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and possession of an illegal weapon.
His bail hearing scheduled for Thursday has been pushed back to Feb. 16, with the possibility of new charges being added. The Crown says a lot of evidence has been gathered in connection with the case and continues to be collected.
While Montreal police confirmed the stabbing victim’s death, it has yet to be ruled a homicide.
“We have to wait for the exact results of the autopsy,” said spokesperson Caroline Chèvrefils.
In light of the student’s death John Rennie High School is postponing parent-teacher interviews scheduled for Thursday evening and Friday, but classes are not affected.
“We have our student services team deployed to classes today to support teachers in delivering
this message to students,” Kurta said.
“We will be providing extra guidance to any student in need throughout today and encourage you to leave your child in school for the remainder of the day so that we can help them grieve.”
While Friday is a scheduled pedagogical day, the school will be open to students in need of support between 9 a.m. and noon. Grief counsellors and other support staff will be made available in the coming days as well.
“Although a lot of people didn’t know him, everyone feels bad,” said Adriana Campisi, a student at John Rennie.
“Everyone is affected by this really hard. So, I just pray for everyone to get through this all together.”
The school board also addressed the tragedy in a letter sent out to the entire Lester B. Pearson community.
“The Lester B. Pearson School Board would like to extend its heartfelt condolences to his family and friends,” wrote board chairperson Judy Kelley.
“He was only 16 years old with a bright future ahead of him. The entire school board is shaken by this unimaginable loss.”
Kelley confirmed resources would be made available to staff and students within the entire school board, not just John Rennie High School, to help them process their grief.
