A 17 year old from Big Pine Key was airlifted to Miami after another teen stabbed him in the back Friday afternoon on Big Pine Key.
The incident took place in the parking lot of Walgreen’s drugstore at 4:40 p.m. Friday. Witnesses say the suspect, 19 year old Shane Richard, got off the bus from Marathon with a friend. The victim, 17 year old Craig Veitinger, was there and the two got into an altercation.
During the altercation, Richard pulled a knife from his pocket and stabbed Veitinger in the back. Richard then got into a yellow colored Ford Mustang with several other people and left the scene.
It was later determined the fight was over a woman Veitinger had been “messing around with”. A witness who was on the bus with the suspect said he and a friend had been talking on the bus about fighting Veitinger. She said the whole time he was talking about it, Richard had a knife in his hands, with the blade open.
Richard was located at a home on Rose Drive a short time later. He was taken into custody and charged with aggravated battery. Veitinger was transported to Fishermen’s Hospital where it was determined he had a punctured lung. He was airlifted to the Ryder Trauma Center in Miami for treatment of his injuries.
