Originally published 2.30pm
NINETEEN TEENAGERS AND one security guard have been injured after a student went on a stabbing spree at a school in America.
At least four of the students have been critically injured in the assault at Franklin Regional High School in Pennsylvania.
A 16-year-old boy has been taken into custody after being overpowered by the school principal and another member of staff, according to Thomas Seefeld, the chief of police in Murrysville.
Police say the boy ran through the school attacking people with two large knives shortly after 7.15am (12.15pm GMT). The attack lasted between 20 and 30 minutes.
The teenager is expected to be charged tonight. Reports indicate that police are planning to charge him as an adult for crimes including attempted homicide and aggravated assault.
WTAE reports that the stabbings happened in classrooms and hallways as students were arriving for school.
It was not immediately clear what prompted the assailant, who is himself being treated for a hand injury, to attack.
Victims
Dan Stevens, a spokesman for Westmoreland County emergency management, said that the teenage victims are aged 14 to 17.
Police said the victims were found in multiple locations because they were following the correct drill to run as far away as possible in the event of an emergency.
Doctor Mark Rubino at Forbes Regional Hospital, which is treating eight of the victims, said he expected everyone to survive despite what he called “deep penetrating” stab wounds.
The knife wounds, most of them to the lower abdomen, caused significant injuries to internal organs, Rubino said.
Three of the victims were still in surgery and the other five were still being evaluated, he told reporters.
“Three of the patients had severe injuries and are still in the operating room right now. And two of them are in critical condition, but they have stabilised,” Rubino said.
The other five that we had are still being evaluated, of whom one or two may require further surgery, he added.
Updated 10.05pm
- Additional reporting AFP and Christine Bohan
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