“As the parent of a child in high school, my bones shook. I cringed,” Lanza (R-South Shore), who also has a daughter who’s a teacher, said of the video. “The whole incident, the whole crime, is a tragedy on both ends of the equation.”
Staten Island’s Democratic and Republican lawmakers presented a united front Friday promising action after violent incidents near the borough’s high schools.
Borough President-elect Vito Fossella announced the press conference outside Wagner High School in Sea View, and was joined by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, State Sen. Andrew Lanza, Assemblyman Mike Cusick, Assemblyman Charles Fall, Assemblyman Mike Reilly, and Assemblyman Mike Tannousis.
A graphic fight video that surfaced earlier this week rattled that sense of security. It showed a pair of males beating two Wagner students just yards away from the school’s Brielle Avenue entrance Monday afternoon.
The two males, who officials have said don’t attend the school, got the upper hand in the fights, but chose to escalate things further. One continues to pummel and stomp on one of the students as he lies limp on the sidewalk while another stands over his victim brandishing what appears to be a firearm.
Some of the elected officials, including Cusick, Fossella and Reilly, felt that apparent inaction marked another low point in the video, and hoped someone went to get help.
“As the parent of a child in high school, my bones shook. I cringed,” Lanza (R-South Shore), who also has a daughter who’s a teacher, said of the video. “The whole incident, the whole crime, is a tragedy on both ends of the equation.”
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