Southwest HS Student Dies After Fight

Fort Worth police are investigating the death of a high school student on Friday.

Police said 16-year-old Jose Guzman was pronounced dead at a hospital after a fight during a break between classes.

Investigators said a freshman and Guzman, a junior, left Southwest High School in the 4100 block of Altamesa Boulevard at about 10:20 a.m. and went behind a community center across the street.

Police said the boys, both members of ROTC, got in a fight.

About a dozen students also left campus and watched the fight. Some called 911 when Guzman went down, and others contacted the school nurse.

Medstar's website shows it dispatched an ambulance on a cardiac arrest call.

The Tarrant County medical examiner's website lists Guzman's name but did not list a cause of death as of Friday night.

Guzman's family said he had heart problems but did not offer specifics.

Loved ones remember 16-year-old

Friday night's Mass at Immaculate Heart of Mary in Fort Worth was held in his honor.

Friends and family filled the church to mourn Guzman.

"He was a really nice person," friend Yesenia Derobles said. "He deserved everything. He was really nice, and so I wanted to honor him because I feel really bad because he died."

"It was not fair for him to die like this," she said. "He didn't deserve it. He was a good person."

Misaal Argueta said Guzman's death was hard to believe, as did another friend, Humberto Garcia.

"[I] can't believe he's gone, you know," Garcia said. "You can never know when will be the last time you see your friends and stuff."

School district says death is "tragic situation"

Fort Worth Independent School District spokesman Clint Bond said the district brought in counselors once it learned of the incident.

"Obviously, it’s a tragic situation," he said.

Bond said the district has a strict policy about fighting.

He said it will be up to the principal to decide if the students who watched the fight would be disciplined because it happened during school hours.

"Obviously, students are supposed to be in school, so we will just have to sort everything out and decide what happens with the students who left campus," he said.

Police are questioning the other student involved in the fight, as well as witnesses.

No one has been arrested.

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