Two 14-year-old students — one male, one female– were reportedly "caught in the crossfire" of a shootout Tuesday across from Charlotte Amalie High School as school was ending about 3:15 p.m.
The girl was shot twice in the abdomen and the upper left side, according to newspaper and radio reports. The boy, reportedly a student at Addelita Cancryn Junior High School, was shot once in the left side, according to Police Capt. Adelbert Molyneaux.
The shooting appears to stem from altercations between feuding youths from neighborhood "posses" from Oswald Harris Court and Hospital Ground.
A 16-year-old male was taken into custody Tuesday in connection with the shooting, but no formal charges have been lodged, according to the Independent.
Jeanette Smith, principal of CAHS, told the Daily News she is "fed up with the housing feuds."
Smith said Tuesday's shooting was a continuation of a stabbing incident the day before at Cancryn.
Smith said some of the students involved in the incident had been recommended for dismissal because of their involvement in similar incidents. The recommendations, however, were not approved, she said.
Smith said the Education Department needs a plan to separate the minority of troublemakers from the larger student body to protect those who are in school to get an education.
The surge in youth violence — including the killing of two young men in St. Croix since the new year began — has many in the community concerned. The Daily News reported Tuesday that in the last three years, 30 people under the age of 25 have been killed in the Virgin Islands; 28 of the victims were males and 28 of the killings were from gunfire.
