High School Dean Shoots Student He Recruited To Deal Drugs

(NewsReady.com) – There’s an expectation that officials who work for schools are going to take care of the children entrusted to them. Time and time again that turns out not to be the case. A former dean is now headed to prison for decades after he tried to murder a student who was committing crimes for him.

On May 4, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts announced Shaun Harrison, 63, was sentenced to more than 18 years in prison for racketeering. He’d pleaded guilty to the RICO charge in August 2022.

According to federal prosecutors, the RICO charge stems from a scheme where Harrison recruited students to join the Latin Kings, a notorious street gang. In 2015, the convicted criminal was working as the academic dean at The English High School in Boston. During that time, he was a member of the gang and used his position in the school to recruit students to sell marijuana.

'Operation Throne Down' update: Shaun Harrison, a former Boston Public Schools Dean who recruited students into the Latin Kings, has been sentenced to over 18 years in federal prison following our North Shore Gang Task Force's investigation. https://t.co/Bwj2Z2uApf pic.twitter.com/NubPilViat

— FBI Boston (@FBIBoston) May 4, 2023

On March 3, 2015, Harrison met up with a student he believed was stealing money from him and might tell the police about his crimes. He pulled out a gun and shot the 17-year-old in the back of the head at point-blank range, nearly killing him. The shooting was caught on camera. In 2018, a jury convicted the former dean of attempted murder and sentenced him to about 25 years in prison.

While in prison, Harrison continued his gang activity, and in 2019, he was indicted by a grand jury of racketeering, firearms charges, and drug conspiracy. The latest sentencing was related to that case.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Joseph R. Bonavolonta said the sentence ensures the dean “will stay in prison and off [the] city streets for a significant period of time.” He said the former school official led a “double life,” where he “engage[d] in violence and recruit[ed] at-risk youth into a violent criminal enterprise.”