Utah school still in shock after student stabs 5 classmates
OREM, Utah >> High school junior Karen Martinez was arriving for her first class when she saw three boys run from a locker room toward the school’s central office, one with a head wound and another with a neck injury. One had blood running down the back of his shirt.
Inside the locker room, police say, a 16-year-old straight-A student with no record of disciplinary trouble had attacked his classmates with a knife as they changed into their gym clothes.
“It was awful,” said Martinez, her eyes filled with tears. “It was so terrifying. I didn’t know any of the kids but still it was like an awful feeling to see all those kids getting hurt.”
Police say the suspect, a sophomore in his first year at the high school after being home-schooled, also stabbed himself in the neck. He was cornered Tuesday by school workers until a police officer assigned to Mountain View High School got to the locker room and subdued him with a Taser shot.
Authorities did not identify the suspect by name because of his age.
The five victims are all expected to survive, hospital officials said. The two most seriously injured were in critical but stable condition, according to Utah Valley Hospital.
The attack spread fear and panic among students who described a gruesome scene immediately after the stabbings. Police said the knife used in the attack had a 3-inch blade.
Orem police posted a letter online they said was from the parents of the teen, apologizing. They said none of the victims had done anything to hurt their son and the stabbings were not racially or ethnically motivated.
“We are at a loss to express how deeply sorry we are for the pain and injury caused,” the letter says.
Police said it appears the victims weren’t singled out for any reason other than being nearby when the attack started.
School district spokeswoman Kimberly Bird said there were no indications the suspect was having problems or being bullied, she said.
Investigators are talking to students who witnessed the attack and who knew the suspect as they try to determine a motive, said Gary Giles, the police chief in the city of Orem about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City where the attack happened.
“Is it a fight? Is it somebody who is upset with somebody? Is there more to it than that?” Giles said. “I don’t have those answers.”
Student Paxton Ransom was in the locker room when it happened. He saw blood on the floor and thought it was fake until he looked around the corner and saw someone on the ground who had been stabbed. He ran away and hid with other students in the school’s weight room, texting his mother “There’s been a stabbing but I’m ok.”
She joined hundreds of parents who rushed to the school to find out if their children were safe, letting him go back to classes after giving him a hug.
The school, with 1,300 students, was put on lockdown after the stabbings for about an hour until police determined there was no danger for students. Some parents took their children home and others allowed them to finish the school day.
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert’s children attended the school years ago, and he tweeted, “It’s a community close to our hearts. My prayers are with the students and staff.”
The school plans to investigate if the suspect had had been acting in a way that should have been addressed by school officials prior to the attack, Bird said.
The school bans weapons but doesn’t have metal detectors or other security procedures to check students each day, she said. It’s unlikely they’ll implement any of those now, either, because they don’t want to make the school feel like a prison, Bird said.
12 responses to “Utah school still in shock after student stabs 5 classmates”
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Home-schooled and could not adjust to classroom environment. Must have felt abandoned as he did not get the attention he did at home?
Or, some people are just nuts (which could also be why he was home schooled). There isn’t enough facts to know. One thing I do know is, society will do everything possible to make sure this kid gets the chance to attack again in the future.
Just checking: You’d execute a 16 year old with mental/emotional problems?
Where in his post did he said anything about executing a 16 year old? He said that there wasnt enough facts to know…
Cellodad,
You sometimes display an overly thin skin and are quick to post with some sort of righteous indignation. You also have a habit of replying with patronizing advice or comments when no offense was given or intended.
Be cool and enjoy this site for what it mostly is – entertainment.
Just saying my say.
This is a perfect answer to those gun nuts who try to compare the lethality of knives and guns as being equal. If this kid had been using an AR-15 vs a knife, there would be 5 dead kids, likely more.
Exactly!
Using similar logic it’s equally valid to say that present gun laws in Utah are entirely adequate and that no more onerous and capricious restrictions to legal gun ownership (including sound suppressors) need to be adopted.
By the way, the last time I studied the matter, in any given shooting in the civilian sector, there is approximately a one in four (25%) chance that any single gunshot wound will result in a fatality. This includes the shooting of civilians by active duty police officers.
A couple of things about knives you might ponder: one, they’re inherently stealthy and quiet and two, they seldom “run dry.” Both factors came into play in the recent horror at the assisted living facility in Japan.
Trump is President soon! Our gun rights will hold fast and stand strong now. Get used to the Constitution of the United States being applied as it was intended.
Was he using illegal drugs which might explained his rampage?
America’s kids are possibly one of the most heavily dosed populations in the world if you include only anxiety medications and antidepressant drugs. So yeah, I’d wager even money that he was taking prescription meds. Given his supposed academic performance, I’m somewhat less likely to believe he was under the influence of an illegal substance. We’ll all just have to await the results of the inevitable drug screening that will be performed.
Most home-schooled kids I ran into during almost 20 years in the DOE (not as a teacher thank goodness!) were okay. Unfortunately there are a few who are socially underdeveloped – they have a difficult time relating to other kids and sometimes even to adults outside their family circle. Hopefully this child will get some needed help and counseling. YMMV