Teen Accused of “Knockout Game” Attack at Hamden High School

Hamden police have arrested a 15-year-old boy accused of an attack at Hamden High School that appears to mimic the violent so-called “knockout game.”

On Nov. 22, a teacher frantically approached Officer Scott Jason, the school resource officer, to report an assault, involving two students.

Police said a 15-year-old student ran toward a senior who was walking in the hallway and punched him under the eye.

"There were absolutely no issues between them," said school superintendent Fran Rabinowitz. "It wasn't like somebody provoked somebody else. It was just a punch from this student to the other student."

The victim didn’t know the boy who assaulted him and said they he had never spoken.

When police spoke with the suspect, a sophomore, he told officers “it’s a game he and his friends play,” police said. 

Police in nearby New Haven have been investigating at least six “knockout game”-style attacks.

"I would certainly consider whether or not it could be related to the knockout, and that's why I would take this incredibly seriously," Rabinowitz said.

In each case, the attacker chooses a victims at random, charge the person and delivers a punch to the head in an attempt to knock the victim unconscious.

The victim in the Hamden High School attack suffered an eye injury, police said.

The 15-year-old was charged with assault in the third degree and is scheduled to appear in juvenile court in New Haven on Dec. 9.

Local parents said they were alarmed and disturbed by the attacks.

"You want safety for all the children and you don't want them to pick up something they see o the street and bring it into the school because it can become a bigger issue," said Rolanda Booker, the mother of two teens and a teacher at the Wexler-Grant School in New Haven. "Kids have enough stress on them already so they don't need any more."

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