MANDEVILLE, Manchester - Omar Lushane-Wright, a 17-year-old student of Bellefield High School, became the 13th murder victim in Manchester for 2008 when he was knifed by a 15-year-old from Beaumont Comprehensive High on Wednesday.

Bellefield High School Principal Elsie Thompson

Wright's death about 3:00 pm came six hours after another fatal stabbing - that of 39-year-old Courtney Mullings of Mike Town, just outside Mandeville. Mullings was stabbed during a dispute with three others in Mike Town.

Police said yesterday that young Lushane-Wright, a resident of Lincoln District just outside Mandeville, was stabbed at the Beaumont Comprehensive High when he got into a fight with the Beaumont student. The two were said to have had a "long standing dispute". The alleged killer has been taken into custody by the police.

A teenaged boy who told journalists he had witnessed the incident said Lushane-Wright had actually come to him to "collect a (cellular) phone".

The eyewitness said after collecting the phone, Lushane Wright waited at the gate of the school for the other boy who he claimed had wronged him at some point previously. According to the eyewitness, Lushane-Wright who was not dressed in his "school shirt" pulled a cutlass from "im back" and slapped the Beaumont student with it. Lushane-Wright also kicked the other boy, the eyewitness said.

The other boy then pulled a knife and stabbed Lushane-Wright, the eyewitness said.

At Bellefield High, Principal Elsie Thompson said counselling sessions had taken place for close friends of Lushane-Wright, particularly a number of girls who "cried" on hearing news of his death. A long meeting had also been held with the student body to discuss the tragedy and examine how it could have been avoided had there been an approach utilising proper conflict resolution methods.

She described Lushane-Wright - who left school immediately after the morning shift on Wednesday - as a pleasant boy who had a few behavioural problems but nothing out of the ordinary.

"What I remember about him was that he was always smiling. Everyday I see him he smiles... like many other students he did give some trouble... but not a child that I had to on more than two occasions bring into my office. He was a child that I would say come to me and when I turn my back he comes...," Thompson said.

She lamented that many students at upgraded high schools such as Bellefield lacked the social skills to suitably deal with disputes and conflicts.

"Students of traditional high schools ... are (often) coming from homes where they are properly supervised ... the parents are professionals (and) educated persons better able, and better trained to instruct and guide their children... you find that in the upgraded high schools, you have the students for the most part coming from lower socio-economic background ... (and) apart from the challenge of teaching academics (teachers) must teach behaviour...," she said.

Thompson who took over as principal at Bellefield in 2005 said that since September last year she had initiated an "attitudes and values" programme aimed at incorporating "conflict resolution, rejection of violence, modes of behaviour and lifestyles, behaviour that will reflect and inspire respect for life and human rights..."

"We are really sad ..." she said. "At Bellefield High School we try to get our students to be good citizens...," she added.

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