EL SERENO (CNS) – Detectives Monday were seeking the suspect who fatally stabbed a 17-year-old boy who was waiting to get picked up from a restaurant in El Sereno by his mother.
The stabbing occurred minutes before 4 p.m. Friday on the 4500 block of Valley Boulevard, near the border with the unincorporated City Terrace area, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Xavier Chavarin was a straight-A student who attended Woodrow Wilson High School and was supposed to graduate in June, his family said.
“It breaks my heart,” Chavarin’s mother, Laura Frias, told NBC4. “The fact that they just took him away from me.”
Chavarin was waiting outside a King Torta restaurant moments before the suspect unexpectedly stabbed him in the back. His family said Chavarin later collapsed and died inside the restaurant while trying to get help.
Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said he was shocked by the attack and sent 10 additional counselors to Woodrow Wilson High School to attempt to comfort staff and students.
“I’m shocked, as the entire community should be shocked, ” Carvalho said. ” When something goes wrong with a kid like that, the entire community should bow its head and think about what’s happening in Los Angeles.”
There’s no complete description of the suspect. Chavarin’s family said several cameras captured the stabbing, NBC4 reported, which they believe will assist investigators with finding the suspect.
