Less than a half-hour before Sirgio Jeter, 14, was stabbed 10 times and beaten outside McKinley High School on Feb. 9, school administrators were alerted to threatening messages his cousin received that day from another student, according to a new legal claim against Buffalo Public Schools.
The student sending threats wanted to fight Jeter's cousin, who went to the principal and vice principal about it.
Even during the meeting with administrators when he shared the threatening text and social media messages, Jeter's cousin continued to receive threats.
Buffalo Public Schools Superintendent Kriner Cash said the district is taking steps to address concerning incidents, such as fights, that have happened at a slightly higher rate at McKinley and a handful of other schools than on average across the district.
But school leaders let students leave the school that day without taking additional steps to provide security, according to legal papers filed with the district as a precursor to a lawsuit.
What resulted was a stabbing and a school security guard responding to the fight getting shot in the leg, attacks that led to a manhunt and a school lockdown. A 13-year-old also suffered a graze wound.
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In the end, Jeter's cousin was uninjured, but Jeter was beaten and suffered a punctured lung, a punctured kidney, along with stab wounds to his diaphragm and colon. He remains in critical condition at Oishei Children's Hospital, according to his family's attorneys.
"Common sense would dictate that the administration of the school would make sure that this child had safe passage from school at the end of the day, and they neglected to do that," said John V. Elmore, attorney for Aurielle Austin, Jeter's mother.
A 17-year-old has been charged in the attack on Jeter, while another 17-year-old has been charged with shooting the security guard. Erie County District Attorney John Flynn has said other attackers are being sought and the investigation into the violence is ongoing.
Aside from the warning signs about potential violence in this situation, school and district officials also knew about violent incidents at the school perpetrated by students going back years, according to the legal claim, which accuses the district and Superintendent Kriner Cash of failing to adequately address security, despite that history, Elmore said.
"Had the superintendent put policies in place to make the school safer for students and teachers, and then had the principal and vice principal at McKinley High School done more to protect Sirgio’s cousin, who was asking for help, this incident would have never happened," Elmore said in an interview Tuesday.
A spokesperson for Buffalo Public Schools, speaking on behalf of the district's general counsel, declined to comment.
The union representing Buffalo teachers last week issued a vote of no confidence in Cash over security issues at McKinley.
About 3:45 p.m. Feb. 9, after school had let out, between 15 and 25 students gathered outside the school. Everyone in the group present in the parking lot was not involved in the fight, authorities have said.
Jeter had accompanied his cousin, who was expecting to have a one-on-one fight, Elmore said.
"He was there to protect his cousin if more than one person jumped him," he said.
The situation started when a female student who was close to Jeter's cousin was called a name. Jeter's cousin confronted the person who said that, he said.
Neither Jeter nor his cousin are affiliated with any gangs, Elmore said.
"They're good kids" from good families, he said.
The new legal action points to a December memo the Buffalo Teachers Federation sent to Cash and the Board of Education about more than 40 incidents of student violence at McKinley since the start of the school year. The union called for additional counselors, psychologists, social workers and school resource officers.
On Feb. 14, Mayor Byron Brown said additional school resource officers would be in place at McKinley until sometime in April.
Reach Aaron at abesecker[at]buffnews.com or 716-849-4602.
