Five students and a security guard were injured in a stabbing on the afternoon of April 30 at a high school in the US, in what the authorities said arose from an “altercation”.
The authorities responded just after 1.30pm (4.30am Singapore time on May 1) to a report of an “active assault” at Foss High School, located in Tacoma, Washington.
Four students were in critical condition with “reported stab wounds”, according to Tacoma Fire Department spokesperson Chelsea Sheperd.
Officer Shelbie Boyd, a spokesperson for the Tacoma Police Department, said that a security guard and another student, whom she described as a “suspect”, were also injured and taken to a hospital. The suspect was also taken into custody, she said.
All of those injured were in stable condition as of 4pm local time, the fire department said.
Ms Boyd said the stabbing had happened “on the campus” of the school. It was not immediately clear whether it happened inside or outside the building. Ms Sheperd said firefighters arrived to find one injured person outside the school and then went in to treat other people who were injured.
Local healthcare organisation MultiCare spokesperson Scott Thompson said two hospitals received patients related to the stabbing, but declined to comment on the conditions of the patients.
A spokesperson for Foss High School said that the school was in lockdown and that parents would have received a notification if their child was involved in the episode.
Parents were able to come to the school to pick up their children, Ms Sheperd said. Students were dismissed at 2.45pm, and school was cancelled for May 1, the Tacoma Police Department said in a statement.
Tacoma Public Schools did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In January 2007, 17-year-old student, Samnang Kok, was shot and killed in a hallway at Foss High School. Another student, Douglas Chanthabouly, who was 18 at the time, was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to 23 years in prison. NYTIMES
