A Threat In Lowell

By Lily Whitten

A Threat in Lowell

The city of Lowell has become synonymous with dangerous to some residents of Massachusetts. Often when Emily LaGrega mentions she is from Lowell, people ask, “what’s it like living in Lowell?” and “isn’t that the ghetto?” Of course, some areas are nice, but these are overshadowed by the crime elsewhere. Lowell has a crime rate that is higher than 90% of the state's cities and towns of all sizes. It is often in the news for stabbings, shootings, and robberies. Crime is what Lowell is known for to many people.

This area is all Emily LaGrega has known. Born and raised in Lowell, she is proud to tell people where she is from. She has witnessed a drug deal on her own doorstop but the most traumatic thing she has ever been through happened on October 27, 2016 when she was a sophomore at Lowell high school. She loved her school, even when students called in bomb threats to get dismissed from class. Lowell High is a public high school in downtown Lowell, 3,145. Emily was heavily involved in sports. She played soccer in the fall and basketball in the winter. She was well-liked by her classmates and had many friends. However, she did not know that one of her friends would put her in the most dangerous situation of her life.

It was around 12:15, the fifth period had just started, and Emily left her classroom to retrieve her hairbrush from her locker in the girls’ locker room. With her hairbrush in hand, she began the walk back down the hallway to her classroom. Her friend Nathan stood outside of the wrestling room.  Emily was always willing to chat, she approached him to say a quick hello. Their small talk was suddenly interrupted by a male student who was unfamiliar to Emily. He was a white male, about 6’1 with a larger build. He wore khaki pants, a navy blue short-sleeve shirt, and Nike sneakers. His short curly brown hair swayed as he began to yell.

“Hey Nathan, we need to talk!” he said.

Nathan was scared, “I am not going anywhere alone with you,” he replied.

“Yes, you are and so is your friend,”

He pushed both the two through the closest door. It happened to be the wrestling room. After they entered, Emily saw four other boys waiting in there. Two guarded the door. Emily tried to run to the door, but she was only a slight 5’3 female. She was overpowered by the bigger men. They pushed her onto the ground. The leader of the group later revealed to be named Justin, pulled a pocket-knife from his pants. He pointed the knife at her.

“Sit against the wall. If you scream, I will stab you,” he threatened.

She obeyed and sheepishly sat on one of the mats. Her back sank into the padded wall. She looked around the room. There were gym mats sprawled all over the floor. The wrestling room was known as the room where couples would go to hook up. During the day, the chance of anyone else walking in was slim. Two of the boys grabbed each of Nathan’s arms and pulled them behind his back. Justin aggressively shook the knife at Nathan.

“I gave you three weeks, where is my money?” He was not asking, he was yelling.

“I don’t have it. I will try to get it as fast as I can!”

“I’m going to kill you!” Justin screamed.

Emily grabbed her phone from her pocket. She only had enough time to send a brief text to her friend “someone has a knife.”

“Put your phone away, or I’ll smash it,” Justin said.

After her friend received the text, the school went into lockdown. School security scoured the building, trying to locate the suspect. Emily felt the time was passing slowly. She knew she had to do something quickly before Nathan was hurt. Again, she took out her phone. She cautiously dialed the number of her soccer coach, someone she trusted. As Justin inched closer to Nathan, Emily slid the phone back into her pocket. Her coach answered and listened to what was going on.

“Hey, why am I here? I didn’t do anything. I hate that I’m in the wrestling room with you,” she said.

These remarks caught Justin off-guard. The information was enough for her coach to tell security where to find them. Moments later, security busted through the doors.

“Everybody on the ground!” they yelled.

Emily felt relief but she was also in shock. They searched everyone. They patted each of them down and took away the knife. Emily gave a statement. All of the other students were suspended. She was told to return to class. Her teachers were emailed alerting them of the situation and that Emily was the student involved. They did not force her to do work. She walked to another classroom where her aunt taught. Her worried aunt asked her over and over how she was feeling. Emily, who was taught to be tough in sports, only replied: “I’m fine.”

Later that night, after the adrenaline went away, Emily realized the severity of what had happened. She wished she had not left her classroom, but she was scared of what would have happened to Nathan if she was not there. After that night she did not want to talk about it. As time went on, she tried to forget about what had happened.

Justin was sent to an alternative high school, where other troubled students go. The other kids returned to school a few weeks later. One of the boys who had pushed her had a class with her that next semester. He apologized to her and asked if they could be friends. Emily said no thanks.