SIERRA VISTA — A federal hold has been placed on the teenager charged with stabbing a fellow Buena High School student Tuesday morning.

U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Jesus Rodriguez said Wednesday afternoon that the detainer was filed at the Cochise County Jail for Kevin R. Suarez, 18, because the Border Patrol was unable to verify that Suarez was in the United States legally.

Suarez remains in county custody on $50,000 bond. He is charged with aggravated assault and misconduct with a weapon in connection with an incident at the high school.

Cochise County Attorney Ed Rheinheimer said U.S. Immigrations and Customs officials in Phoenix confirmed at about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday that Suarez was in the United States illegally. After receiving that information, the Cochise County Attorney’s Office filed a motion that Suarez’s bond be struck and that he be held without bond.

Suarez

Later Wednesday, Justice of the Peace District 5 Court Judge Tim Dickerson denied the state’s motion to hold the defendant without bond.

A minute-order entry obtained from the court Wednesday afternoon said that while the court finds probable cause to believe the defendant is here illegally, the booking statement does not establish “the proof is evident or the presumption is great” that the defendant is guilty, which is required for a “no bond.”

Suarez’s bond was originally set at $10,000, based on the officer’s information that the defendant was in the United States legally, as well as the officer’s recommendation that the defendant be released on his own recognizance, according to the minute entry.

In light of the new information about the immigration detainer, the bond was increased to $50,000, according to the court document.

A 6:50 a.m. altercation in a hallway at the high school Tuesday left a 17-year-old male student with a non-life-threatening stab wound. Suarez was arrested at about 7:15 a.m.

Sierra Vista police said the 17-year-old, who allegedly started the altercation and who is not being named because of his age, also will likely be charged with assault and will be referred to the Cochise County Juvenile Probation Office.

Police recovered a steak knife with a 5-inch blade at the school, 5225 E. Buena School Blvd.

Impact from incident

After the incident, rumors rolled through the school Tuesday to the extent it affected attendance on Wednesday.

For the rest of the week, Sierra Vista police officers will provide more patrols in the campus area, and armed officers will be at the school doors and in the hallways, according to school administrators. School faculty and staff also were asked to be vigilant.

On Tuesday, the automated notification system alerted all students’ parents about the incident, declaring it to be an isolated incident and not gang-affiliated.

Sierra Vista police Chief Ken Kimmel said Wednesday afternoon that beyond Tuesday’s incident, no further incidents occurred through Wednesday’s school day, despite rumors of gunplay in the school or its parking lots or after school in local parks.

Sierra Vista school district spokeswoman Donna Avina said school staff reported one other unrelated arrest on school grounds, and that was for a warrant.

“They’ve been polling these kids’ friends, and so far all they can gather was it had something to do with whatever they got into during the weekend,” Avina said of Tuesday’s incident.

On Wednesday, school staff members continued to interview any students who indicated they might have information about Tuesday’s incident.

“Administrators are very busy interviewing any student they heard anything about,” Avina said.

Avina said the rumors were still thick, though “it was relatively quiet” on Wednesday.

Assessment of                   the situation

The school administration and the Police Department’s assessment is that they are unable corroborate Tuesday morning’s stabbing incident as being gang-related. “The subject (Suarez) that was arrested had tattoos that would indicate that at some point in time he was involved in some type of gang. But at the same time, he’s denying that he was active in any gang,” Kimmel said.

During the last surge of gang activity in Sierra Vista in the 1980s, gang members on the street during interviews or at crime scenes would identify themselves with their gang memberships and “sets,” Kimmel said.

“They don’t necessarily do that anymore, and in a lot of cases they just deny current gang membership,” the police chief said. “Gangs (now) realize it doesn’t help to further their gang activity to identify everybody in their gang or in their set. So it’s a lot more muted than it used to be. It makes sense because they really don’t want to be ‘gimmicked,’ and they don’t really want law enforcement to know. Even if they’re active, they’re not going to be that forthcoming with the information.”

To be “gimmicked” means to be collaboratively identified by law enforcement agencies as affiliated with a criminal street gang.

“This is a rare occurrence at the high school,” Kimmel said. “Other than a few fights, our school resource officer doesn’t report a lot of violence at the high school. Just like the population increase in Sierra Vista is creating an increase in overall crime, the size of Buena High School is such that some violence is going to occur.”

According to the arresting officer’s probable-cause statement filed with the court, Suarez told the officer he pulled out the knife and started swinging it at the 17-year-old, who Suarez said was attacking him. Suarez told the officer he brought the knife to school because he heard the boy whom he stabbed was going to “jump him,” according to the statement.

“Short of a lot of extra money for more officers and surveillance equipment, I think the school is doing the best they can with the resources they have,” Kimmel said of keeping the students and staff safe.

Because of the federal No Child Left Behind law, Avina said, it is illegal for the school to ask if a student is in the United States legally, and it is illegal for the school to ask for proof of U.S. citizenship of its students. She said the district must accept students when they prove they live within the district.

As such, the district was unaware of Suarez’s immigration status, Avina said.

GENTRY BRASWELL can be reached at 515-4680 or by e-mail at gentry.braswell@svherald.com.