Nadisha Hunter, Staff Reporter

Students and staff at the Institute of Academic Excellence on Half-Way Tree Road in St Andrew found it difficult to come to terms yesterday with a tragic incident at the school, which resulted in the death of one of their own and the injuring of another.

Dead is 15-year-old Euric Brown, a fourth form student from a Kingston address.

According to the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN), four students were involved in an altercation which left two injured. Brown succumbed to his injuries while another student was hospitalised in stable condition.

The other two students, who were responsible for the attack, were arrested and taken to the Half-Way Tree Police Station.

A senior official at the institution who did not want to be identified, told The Gleaner yesterday that the incident is alleged to have resulted from a dispute over a phone.

The incident, which occurred close to 2 p.m., left students and teachers traumatised, forcing evening classes to be suspended for the day.

Principal of the institute Jermaine Martin, who was shaken by the incident, said the school has organised for the Ministry of Education to visit and offer counselling to the population.

"It is painful," he lamented.

He said while the school continues to see pockets of violence they had never before reached this extreme.

"Not to this magnitude. Usually we will have the normal incidents, the students will have their little disagreements, but we never have anything like this," he said.

nadisha.hunter@gleanerjm.com