A 16-year-old is in the hospital with serious injuries after a stabbing at West Potomac High School in Alexandria, Virginia, on Wednesday morning, according to Fairfax County police.
A school resource officer rushed to help the teen who was stabbed just before 10 a.m., police said. Officers with Fairfax County responded to the school within minutes.
Police had earlier said the 16-year-old who was stabbed had suffered life-threatening injuries. But during a news conference Wednesday afternoon, police said the student was in stable condition at a nearby hospital.
A 15-year-old boy is in custody and will be charged with malicious wounding, police said. Officers have recovered the knife the suspect is accused of using in the stabbing.
Three students got into a fight in a hallway near some classrooms before the stabbing.
The third student involved in the fighting, a 15-year-old, is being interviewed by investigators but police do not expect that student will be criminally charged.
Authorities have not released the names of any of the teens. No other suspects are believed to be involved outside of the student who is in custody, police said.
Police Chief Kevin Davis acknowledged video of the fight that’s been posted on social media.
“We have the video, just like you have the video, but the video doesn’t tell the entire story,” Davis said.
A mother of one student said she’s concerned about her son’s safety.
“This is something that could have been had stopped,” Aellene told WTOP.
Local leaders
In a joint statement Wednesday afternoon, Fairfax County School Board members Mateo Dunne, Ilryong Moon and Ryan McElveen called for local leads to take action to improve safety in schools in response to the stabbing.
The school board members said the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors should increase the number of school resource officers to ensure one or more officers are at every middle and high school.
The group also called on the public school system to take measures to prioritize safety such as increasing the number of security assistants, and installing weapons detection tech and video cameras.
Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell urged those who are struggling to take advantage of the counseling services and reiterated elected leaders’ commitment to safety in schools.
“This hit even closer to home for me as a West Potomac parent whose son was at school today as the incident occurred and whose three other children and two other siblings graduated from West Potomac,” said Sen. Surovell in a statement. “These students are so close to the end of the school year and for many, a graduation. This time for celebration is now marred by this ugly incident. These kids deserved so much better today.”
Parents pushback
Superintendent Michelle Reid said counselors will be available to students and staff at the school.
“While there’s a sense, obviously, of shock that this would happen at West Potomac High School, one of our high schools here in Fairfax County, I’m very proud of the response of our staff to this incident,” Reid said. “They responded quickly and admirably and may have saved a life today.”
The school was placed under a brief lockdown during the response, which has since been lifted. Parents were notified through the school’s alert system, and classes have resumed under heightened security.
School officials said the building is under “Secure the Building” status, during which students can move about inside the school but exterior doors are locked, according to the school system’s website.
Some parents at the school on Wednesday questioned the law enforcement and school officials about why they weren’t being allowed to pick up their students from school early.
One father told WTOP the communication with parents was “unsatisfactory.” Bill Beal said he hasn’t been allowed to pick up his daughter who saw the stabbing happen.
“At the end of the day, I think that’s all these parents want, is to get their kids, hug their kids,” Beal told WTOP outside the school. “There’s more than one victim in this — people that witnessed it.”
The police chief tried to reassure parents by telling them the school system would “soon” communicate when students could be picked up.
“As all of our emotions are running high, we don’t want to let the school spill out into this residential community and have skirmishes, fights, altercations and maybe even additional crimes take place,” Davis told parents and reporters gathered outside the school. “All those considerations are something that we’re thinking about, just like you’re thinking about, and I’m sorry your children had to endure what they what they had to endure today.”
Meanwhile, the school system has been rolling out a pilot program that will place metal detectors in schools. Reid said the technology was in place at another school in Fairfax County on Wednesday morning, but not at West Potomac High School.
WTOP’s Scott Gelman reported from the scene.
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