Springfield teen athlete slain at club
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SPRINGFIELD (AP) - A western Massachusetts high school soccer player was killed and his friend was injured when they were stabbed outside a club where more than 250 teens had gathered for a birthday bash Saturday, police said.
Conor Reynolds, 17, died about a half-hour after being stabbed in the neck outside the Blue Fusion Bar and Grill in Springfield late Saturday, police said. Another 17-year-old was treated at a local hospital for a stab wound on his left arm and released.
Both teens were athletes and seniors at Cathedral High School in Springfield, one of the state's largest cities.
Springfield Police Commissioner William Fitchet said Sunday that the attacker stabbed the unarmed teenagers "with little or no provocation," and Mayor Domenic Sarno promised a review of the club's entertainment license.
No arrests
Police had a description of a suspect, but no arrests had been made by Sunday afternoon. He is described as likely being a fellow teenager, though police say he could be up to 20 years old.
More than 250 people had gathered for the party at the club, where no security was on hand and many teens had been drinking before entering, Springfield police Sgt. John Delaney said.
The club, which has no liquor license, has no listed telephone number and its owner and manager could not immediately be reached for comment Sunday.
Police were called to the club just after 11 p.m. Saturday to find Reynolds and the other teenager lying in the parking lot, where friends were trying to provide first aid. Both teens were taken to Baystate Medical Center, where Reynolds was pronounced dead.
Delaney said the club had been rented for a birthday party for a Cathedral student, but it did not hire police or security officers to help control the crowd, which swelled to more than 250 people.
Most were between 16 and 20 years old and many had been drinking before they arrived, he said. There was an admission fee at the door to pay for the disc jockey, but some teens sneaked in the back door at the party, which was not limited to a certain school and did not require proof of an invitation, Delaney said.
The Springfield Republican reported Sunday that parents had been assured the only people attending would be students from Cathedral, a Catholic college-preparatory high school with about 500 students.
The newspaper identified the injured student as a player on the school's hockey team.
Joe Pantousco, Reynolds' coach on the soccer team until his retirement this month, told the newspaper that the teen was "an outstanding player and person."
"Conor was a terrific kid. it's hard to imagine that we were just showering him with accolades a few weeks ago at the soccer banquet," Pantousco said.
