High School Student Juan Carlos Rivera Stabbed to Death Over a Girl

An in-school fight took the life of 17-year-old Juan Carlos Rivera in a suburban Southern Florida high school Tuesday morning. Juan Carlos Rivera was fatally stabbed during a fight in the courtyard of Coral Gables Senior High School.

The scene at Coral Gables High School shortly after the death of Juan Carlos RIvera. (From miamiherald.com)
Authorities did not release the name of the attacker, a fellow student who was arrested shortly after the fight. New footage from helicopters flying overhead showed Juan Carlos Rivera's body covered with a white sheet.

Witnesses have said the fight started over a girl. Student Felix Cedeno told CBS 4 TV station that he saw the two fight when the attacker pulled what appeared to be a switchblade or box cutter and stabbed Rivera 3 times. "I saw the guy bleeding, I saw a guy in pain holding his chest and as soon as he fell to the ground I ran over to help him as soon as I could," he said.

Cederno said Rivera was stabbed in the chest, near the collarbone, and again near the kidney. The attacker fled the scene, but was detained immediately.

School officials did not send students home, but allowed them to leave if their parents picked them up. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho called Rivera's death a "catastrophic loss."