SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Dec. 6 (UPI) -- A dispute over wearing a hood in violation of school rules escalated into a vicious fight that left a counselor dead and a high school student facing a murder charge, Springfield police said.
Corey Ramos, 17, was arraigned Thursday in Springfield District Court on charges he stabbed the Rev. Theodore C. Brown, 51, to death on Wednesday as shocked students and a teacher looked on. Ramos was ordered held without bail pending further court action.
"This is a tragedy beyond any dimensions I am aware of in this city," Springfield Mayor Michael Albano said.
This was the first time a teacher or educator was slain while on duty at a Massachusetts school, state Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll said.
Brown, a Pentecostal minister who served as a school family relations counselor, had encountered Ramos in the hallway wearing his hood, in violation of school policy. He told the youth to remove the hood, but Ramos ignored him and entered a science classroom. Brown followed him in.
"Corey continually refused Reverend Brown's requests" to remove the hood "and they became engaged in an argument that escalated in Corey taking off his jacket and assuming the fighting position," police Lt. William Noonan said.
"The two began to fight. At some point, Corey pulled out a knife and stabbed Reverend Brown at least five to six times in the chest" as eight or nine other students and a teacher looked on, Noonan said.
Ramos fled but was arrested about a half-mile away, Hampden County District Attorney William Bennett said. Bennett said Ramos was charged with murder. An 8.5-inch knife with a 4-inch blade believed to be the weapon used was found in a wooded area behind the school.
Brown, who founded the Church of God by Faith in Hartford, Conn., was pronounced dead at Baystate Medical Center a short time after the attack.
Brown was described by friends as a "man of love ... who looked for the better in every man."
"He was killed in the line of duty doing his job," said School Superintendent Joseph Burke.
Burke said Ramos, who lived with a grandfather and under court jurisdiction, was "a young man who lost it completely."
The school was closed after the incident Wednesday morning, but reopened Thursday with counselors available for students and school personnel.
"We are all diminished when something like this happens in Massachusetts," Acting Gov. Jane Swift said. "Parents expect their children will be safe in our schools. Teachers expect that when they go through the doors, their safety will be protected."
