A John O’Connell freshman was stabbed Wednesday afternoon at around 2 p.m.
Four male suspects got out of a car and attacked the boy on the 2400 block of Folsom Street, according to the police report.
“He was targeted because of his looks,” guessed O’Connell’s principal, Richard Duber. He said that the boy’s short hair may have been mistaken for a haircut common to members of the Sureños gang, sometimes called blues.
The boy was with two friends outside torta shop El Primo when the suspects – assumed to be Norteños – approached and stabbed him.
The victim is a “good, good kid” and a successful athlete, said Duber. He said that the attackers failed to hit any organs and that the boy will be okay.
Neighbors said that O’Connell, one block up from the attack, is on the border between Norteño (red) and Sureño (blue) territories.
J. Cervantes, 36, who often spends time working on cars with friends across the street from O’Connell, said that cases of mistaken identity do occur between the two affiliations, but the neighborhood has gotten much better.
“It’s normal in the neighborhood that it’s a nice day, and suddenly somebody’s shooting,” said Cervantes, who didn’t see this specific incident. “It’s something that’s been in the neighborhood for years.”
Some O’Connell students congregate on Folsom Street after school, and though they block egress to shops on occasion, neighbors say that most kids are fine.
“I’m surprised at how peaceful they are,” said Maxine Kraemer, a Folsom Street resident. To demonstrate, she greeted a group of kids passing by her home. They stopped briefly, turned, and replied politely.
The police have made no arrests.
