A Long Island, New York, teenager was fatally stabbed to death at a strip mall while his fellow students used their cellphones to record the melee instead of intervening, police said.
Khaseen Morris, who was a 16-year-old student at Oceanside High School, was fatally stabbed once in the chest at a strip mall a block away from the high school Monday afternoon over an alleged dispute over a girl, according to CBS New York.
At least 50 to 70 teens who gathered around the fight recorded the attack, but made no attempt to intervene, Nassau County Police told reporters at a Tuesday press conference.
“Kids stood there and didn’t help Khaseen,” Detective Lt. Stephen Fitzpatrick told reporters, according to Newsday. “They’d rather video. They videoed his death instead of helping him.”
Police are now searching for the six to seven individuals involved in the attack and are reviewing footage posted to Snapchat, other forms of social media, and surveillance video from the strip mall, according to Fitzpatrick.
Police say the alleged attacker was angry Morris was involved with an ex-girlfriend.
Officers are also asking those close to the scene of the alleged attack to come forward or risk becoming part of the investigation.
“The individuals who are responsible for this, if you’re not part and parcel to the murder of Khaseen Morris, now’s the time to get in touch with us and let us know who did this and why,” Fitzpatrick told reporters, according to the New York Post.
“After I put handcuffs on you, that ship has sailed,” he added.
Friends and family held a candlelight vigil for Morris on Tuesday, and another candlelight vigil is being held Wednesday evening at a pizzeria near the site of the attack. The event organizer on Facebook urged everyone to “wear tye dye shirts and look groovy as hell.”
Police said no weapons have been found or arrests made, and investigators are looking at persons of interest.
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