The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 8

8A THE PALM BEACH POST TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, 1997 14-YEAR-OLD GUNNED DOWN AT SCHOOL "I knew there was going to be a fight, but I never thought a gun." Lazro Rodrieguez, a friend of Kamel's who witnessed the shooting from across the street. Suspect told police he shot victim 3 times a .4 1 1 X. 7L ViA' y.s, O- cy lv a r-vif ffS. -N "W- Oi.v'iir'i. itvCv "WrA'" vAT P'i; -j SHOOTING From 1A waiting for another school week to begin.

Kamel was with his friend Chris Hartman, 13, when Man-gum, 6-foot-4 and 160 pounds, walked up. Kamel's friends say the two were at odds over Kamel's Adidas watch, a gift from his mother who lives in Cairo. For reasons neither friends nor family could explain, Mangum had Kamel's watch and Kamel wanted it back. "They were just talking and all of a sudden the guy (Mangum) took out a gun," Hartman said. Parent Daisy Gil watched the scene play out in her rearview mirror.

She had just dropped off her two kids and was parked within feet of the boys. "I heard a commotion behind my car and then I heard three or four shots," Gil said. "I saw the boy who was shot fall on the sidewalk, and the boy with the gun in his hand ran right into the school." In seconds, a school police officer and students had surrounded Kamel, witnesses said. Orders blared over the campus public address system for students to report to their homerooms. There teachers locked the rooms as police searched for their suspect, School Police Chief Jim Kelly said.

Kamel remained conscious long enough to name Mangum as the one who shot him, according to a police report. Police found Mangum in a classroom, the report said, A police dog found the gun buried in dirt underneath a portable classroom, Kelly said. Earlier in the day, Mangum had asked another student to help him hide the gun, but the student refused, the report said. That student later showed police where he had watched Mangum hide it. Mangum later told police that he and Kamel had "had problems" for a few weeks and Mangum had the gun for protection.

lie said when the two saw each other Monday morning, Kamel pushed him and that's when he pulled a -38-caIiber handgun from his and fired three times. "I knew there was going to be a fight, but I never thought a gun," said Lazro Rodrieguez, a friend of Kamel's who witnessed the shooting from across the street, Other students echoed that thought. "Mostly the fighting, it's peo-! pie pushing each other and stuff," eighth-grader Alex Morales said. j'Guns? No." I Determined to have a semblance of a normal school day, MARK MIRKOStaff Photographer A flower was placed near the crime scene to honor John Kamel. Friends (from left) Jennise Rivera, 1 3, Angel Rivera, 1 4, and Jessy Rivera, 1 5, remember the slain Portables CZ3 Conniston Middle School 1 I Portable 'H Parking Parhinf a Sidewalk UNA LAWSONStaff Artist yiv h- A.

1 fWirWVr A5k Said another parent: "My son told me he was worried, that there were fights. I said, 'You can't be right, you are too young for that I wish I had listened." The police report also said student witnesses told police they feared reprisal because they thought the shooting might be gang-related. West Palm Beach police recorded seven criminal offenses at Conniston in 1996, including a simple battery, a burglary, two thefts from vehicles, a vehicle theft and a weapons violation. That was down from 12 offenses in 1995, 16 in 1994 and 10 in 1993, according to police reports. This fall, Principal Amelia Os-trosky did file one request to expel a student for possession of a gun.

School police say there is no gang problem at Conniston, but have asked for help curbing unwanted visits from high schoolers. Other parents and students said that the tensions at Conniston are no different than those at any middle school. "People are going to freak out after this, but this is a wonderful school," said Cheryl Andes, whose two daughters attend Conniston. "I'm not going to deny that there have been reports of gangs and violence, but it doesn't permeate the classroom. My children are not schedule.

Classes and lunches went on as planned for the 1,148 students. threatened on campus." District officials say Connis-ton's security should continue to rely on its two officers, one from the school police and one from the city of West Palm Beach. But both departments will put extra police on campus for at least the rest of the week. Kowal emphasized that the shooting happened on the sidewalk off campus, and measures such as metal detectors would have been meaningless. "It's just one of those unfortunate tragedies," said school board member Jody Gleason.

"It's not a policy issue. It happens all the time at 7-Eleven." Connjstpn id. Southern Blvd jj West Palm Beach ,12 Mile, Nevertheless, dozens upon dozens of parents streamed through the school's doors to I check out their kids at least for the day. And counselors set up shop in the media center and met with more than 60 students who i wanted to talk about what hap-' pened. I Some parents, such as Gil, voiced concern about what they see as ongoing tension at Conniston.

There are lots of fights," Gil fsaid. 'There have been gang fights and the high school kids come here to cause trouble." GREG LOVEHStaff Photographer A Conniston Middle School student is comforted by relatives Monday morning after fellow student John Kamel was shot and killed. Staff writers Jounice Nealy and Mary Warejcka contributed to this story. Victim overcame disabilities, hoped to be doctor SHOOTINGS AT LOCAL SCHOOLS i Fatal shootings at Palm Beach County schools 1 Jan. 10, 1995: Robert Warthen, 16, shot himself in the head after school in an outdoor hallway at Palm Beach Gardens High.

He was upset after an argument with his girlfriend. May 20, 1991: Benjamin Dotson, 18, shot Tomeka Thames, 15, at Pahokee School of CHOICE. A fight between Dotson and another 5 student escalated, and Thames was caught in the' cross-fire. Dotson was sentenced to eight years in prison for manslaughter. Other recent nonfatal shootings at county schools June 14, 1995: Alexander Kucer, 19, fired a pistol that hit and critically injured Dieuly Aristilde, 18, and struck Erica Mosley, 14, at Lake Worth High School.

Kucer, a former student at the school, fired the shots in the school parking lot on the last day of the school year. He was placed on five years' probation. March 21, 1994: Howard Herring, 13, a John F. Kennedy Middle School student, shot two students Corey Collier, 12, in the shoulder, and Clarence Johnson, 14, in the back on a crowded basketball court. Herring, who had been in special classes for learning disabilities, was sent 'to a state mental hospital after being found incompetent to' stand trial.

Compiled by Staff Researcher Amy Muscoplat. Born with birth defects, 14-year-old "Johnny" Kamel had fought for and had had a normal, healthy life, relatives say. By JOUNICE L. NEALY Palm Beach Post Staff Writer WEST PALM BEACH When John Pierre Kamel's father contemplated moving to Boynton Beach, the 14-year-old begged him not to. The boy liked Conniston Middle School too much, his cousin Shereen Francis, 21, of West Palm Beach said.

John was killed at the school Monday by another student, police said. Born with birth defects that included his heart being on the right side of his body, three missing vertebrae and no bone in his lower right leg, he had fought for and had had a normal, healthy life, family members said. "Johnny," who used a prosthetic leg, rode his bicycle to school, mimicked rapper Ice Cube, gobbled his aunt's Egyptian bean dish and had many friends. On Monday afternoon, those friends put a small wooden cross on the spot where he was shot. The inscription read, "Dear John.

RIP. From your boys at Conniston. Leo, Miguel, Lazaro, Isaac, Jose, etc. Don't forget us." His killer "just took him out like that," a teary-eyed Francis said. "Nobody could have the heart to do that to him.

"He killed all of us." John was an only child who built strong family ties to his cousins, especially Tamer and Tony Attalla, who were both like brothers to him, Francis said. He visited or called them more than a dozen times a day. "That's why I'm going to miss him a lot," she said. John's father, Ashruf Kamel, of West Palm Beach, declined to be interviewed. His mother lives in Cairo.

Because of his disabilities, John wanted to become a doctor. "I know how to get a brand new leg for me," Kamel once told Francis of his dreams. Mature for his age and respectful of authority, "he never, ever talked back to anybody," she said. "He was not a bad kid. He was the sweetest child." Staff writer Joe Brogan contributed to this story.

1' J'. 1996 KAMEL FAMILY PHOTO John Kamel (right) poses with his cousin Tamer Attalla in this family photo..