An 11-year-old girl died following an after school fight at a Long Beach elementary school, but authorities say they have no immediate plans for arrests.
Police said Saturday night that the girl died at a hospital hours after the fight with another 11-year-old girl outside the school, which sits about 40 kilometers south of Los Angeles in one of the region’s largest cities. Authorities have not released the girl’s name but the Long Beach Press Telegram said she has been identified by friends as Joanna Ramos.
Police are stressing the unusual nature of the tragedy and are urging caution about linking the fight to the girl’s death pending a coroner’s report on the cause of death.
“I think it’s safe to say this is definitely an isolated incident,” said police spokeswoman Nancy Pratt. “I personally don’t hear of 11-year-old fights like this especially girls. I can’t say they never happen but I think everyone was completely caught off-guard by this event.”
Friday’s fight at Willard Elementary didn’t appear to be especially serious or violent, no weapons were used and neither girl was knocked to the ground, police said. Police could not say what prompted the fight but friends had their suspicions.
“They were fighting over a boy,” said Stephanie Guadalupe, a friend of Joanna. “I told the teacher and she said she would talk to all the girls on Monday.”
The Press Telegram reported the fight was pre-planned. Long Beach Unified School District Superintendent Chris Steinhauser told the newspaper there was no indication that adults at the school, attended by about 800 students in kindergarten through fifth grade, was aware of it or notified about it beforehand.
The students involved in the altercation left an after-school program and went to an alley near the school to fight. Some students said bullying had been a problem at the school but Deputy Chief Robert Luna could not confirm if this was an issue in this incident.
Adults later noticed Joanna wasn’t feeling well and drove her to a local emergency room, Luna said.
She was hospitalized and had surgery but died about six hours after the fight at 9 p.m. on Friday.
“There are times when words do not convey the sense of sadness we feel,” Mayor Bob Foster said at a press conference. “This is one of those times.”
Police are investigating and say no arrests are immediately planned. They have interviewed the girl who fought with Ramos. (AP)
<한글 기사>
초등학생이 ‘남자 때문에’ 싸우다가 사망
미국에서 11살 난 소녀 둘이서 방과후에 치열하게 싸운 후, 그 중 한 명이 사망하는 비극적인 사건이 발생했다.
현지경찰은 25일 (현지시간) 미국 캘리포니아에 위치한 롱비치 초등학교에 다니는 조아나 라모스가 응급수술에도 불구하고 숨을 거두었다고 밝혔다.
정확한 사인은 밝혀지지 않았지만 AP통신이 보도한 바에 따르면 조아나는 사망하기 몇 시간 전 같은 반 여자아이와 싸웠다고 한다.
그녀의 친구들은 싸움의 원인이 한 소년이었다고 증언했다.
보도에 따르면 두 소녀의 “결투”는 미리 예정된 것이었다.
둘은 방과후 수업이 끝난 뒤 싸우기 위해 뒷골목으로 향했다. 경찰은 이 싸움에서 흉기가 사용된 것으로 보이지는 않으며 둘 중 어느 한 명이 땅에 쓰러지는 일도 없었다고 전했다.
싸움이 끝난 몇 시간 뒤, 조아나의 몸의 이상이 생겼고 즉시 병원 응급실로 옮겨졌지만 끝내 숨지고 말았다.
경찰은 둘 간의 격투와 조아나의 사인은 각각 별개의 사건으로 보인다면서, 둘을 연결하지 말 것을 당부했다.
