Former High School Dean Shoots Student Over Weed
BOSTON, MA – A former high school dean known as an anti-violence advocate was convicted Thursday of shooting and nearly killing a student he had recruited to sell marijuana for him.
Shaun Harrison, who had worked as a dean at Boston English High School for five years, recruited 17-year-old Luis Rodriguez to sell marijuana for him at the school and shot him on March 3, 2015, because he believed the student was not generating enough sales and withholding money. On the day of the shooting, the pair arranged to meet at a gas station where Harrison was supposed to hand over some drugs.
Rodriguez, now 20, testified that he came from a dysfunctional family and trusted Harrison, whom students nicknamed “Rev.” “He was my counselor. I went to him for everything,” Rodriguez said during the two-week trial.
Harrison shot the student in the back of the head and fled on foot, prosecutors said. The bullet entered Rodriguez’s head just under his right ear. It just missed his carotid artery, broke his jawbone, and caused nerve damage and hearing loss.
Rodriguez said he was saved by occupants of a passing car, who called 911.
Harrison, 58, was found guilty of all charges, including armed assault with intent to murder, by a Suffolk Superior Court jury in deliberations. Harrison’s sentencing hearing was held June 1.
