Teen exchange student arrested in school fight death of 19-year-old

 

Los Angeles police have arrested a 17-year-old exchange student in connection with a school fight in Sylmar that left a 19-year-old dead.

The South Korean exchange student, who was not identified because of his age, was arrested on suspicion of assault after Jin Su Lee died of head injuries. The two exchanged blows at First Lutheran High School in Sylmar.

A law enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said initial indications show Lee started the fight, and the exchange student responded with a few blows.

The 17-year-old boy was taken to juvenile hall, but charges were unlikely to be filed, he said.

Los Angeles County prosecutors said they will not make a formal decision on whether to file charges until they get a completed coroner’s report on the cause of Lee’s death.

-- Richard Winton

Comments

[dee gee]

if he was mexican.....he would have been locked up for sure

[Homeschooler Parent]

Another reason to homeschool your child!

[Dave]

@ dee gee...

If that was the case, he probably wouldn't be at a private school anyway

[nls73m]

@Homeshooler Parent:

Home School? You're joking right? Public schools are a joke and are more of a baby sitting business, but home school? Doesn't work, sorry.

[johnhancock1776]

make a law to dismantle public education so this never happens. oh yeah theyll go for it.

[Kate]

... Why was a nineteen-year-old at a high school??

[rmh]

sounds like they were both Korean. Wonder if it had to do with the culture clash of the US and Korean ways (i.e. respect me I'm older..no way we're not in Korea)

[gern]

Hang on, the 19 year old started a fight with a 17 year old high school student, got beaten up legitimately (no weapons), and then died. Why would they arrest the 17 year old?

[john]

First, tragic, you send your child to school and they don't come home. Second, what's a 19 year-old doing in high school?

[Bob Smith]

This is why "turning the other cheek" is such good advice. Once violence breaks out, you don't know where it will lead to.

[tw]

wow, tough crowd responding today....watch out for karma folks....

[pecos45]

Kate: Read it again. He is an EXCHANGE student. They do not get credit for their studies overseas, so many go after they graduate high school.

As for home schooling, amateurs teach amateurs to be amateurs.

[JoeSchmo]

@pecos45:

Wrong. The 17-year old is the exchange student. The one who died is the 19 year old high school student.

@Kate:

You can be in high school past the age of 18 if you get held back. You can attend high school until the age of 21.

[Justwondering]

Read again it's the exchange student who was arrested not the exchange student who was 19.

[jaydee]

I read on another site that explained that the two were actually friends and the scuffle lasted about 10 seconds. It was a tragic accident and the surviving boy is devasted.

[The_brains_of_the_operation]

The idiots posting about the ills of a homeschooled education obviously have never heard of an autodidact. Michael Langon the worlds smartest man is one. I am one. Here are a list of notable individuals that practice autodidact ism
Michael Faraday, the chemist and physicist
Leonardo da Vinci(for his art studies he trained through the Guild system)
José Saramago Nobel Prize of Literature.
Walter Pitts of MIT was an autodidact.
Physicist and Judo expert Moshe Feldenkrais
Darwin's Bulldog" Thomas Henry Huxley, a 19th-century British scientist.
Vincent J. Schaefer, who discovered the principle of cloud seeding, was schooled to 10th grade
Frank Lloyd Wright

...And countless others. To say that the only way to efficiently learn is through the institution of school is saying that your brain only works and learns in that particular social setting is ideologically limiting and insults the humans ability to grasp and understand things. Through heuristics and cognitive reasoning one can learn and solve any problem put before him, all one needs is time and dedication.

[Tony]

You don't file charges against someone for defending himself.

[Javier]

@Pecos so that explains why our public school system is a disaster we have amateurs teaching. I agree time t privatize and go to a voucher system so only the good schools exist. Competition always produces better results.

[OcMale83]

Pecos,

You should try reading the article again, instead of having others read it again.

The article states that the 17 year old is the exchange student, not the 19 year old.

So, Kate's question is a legitimate one...

[Jimbo]

Do people just read the headline and comment right after? Can't believe you didn't see "exchange student"

[LANATIVE]

To all the public school haters: Try reading the article. The exchange students attended a private "Christian" school. It is in Sylmar but not part of LAUSD.

[Perry Yoshida]

IF THIS WAS A BLACK KID THERE WOULD CRIES OF RACISM. THIS GUYS KUNG FU WAS NOT AS GOOD AS THE OTHER GUYS KARATE.

[David Diaz]

Just a horrible tragic accident. We don't need the hatemongers fueling the sparks with racism.

[Clay Boggess]

If the exchange student didn’t initiate the fight and instead was defending himself then that puts a different light on this issue. Students need to be taught that starting fights is never wise.