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Tag: school stabbing

  • Maren Sanchez Killed after Rejecting Prom Invite?

    Maren Sanchez was just like any other 16-year-old high school junior in the United States, preparing for prom that evening and anticipating the summer break to come.

    However, none of that would become a reality for Sanchez after she was brutally attacked Friday in a school hallway, allegedly by a boy who may have killed the National Honor Society member after she refused an invitation to prom.

    Prom was postponed indefinitely that night and students gathered for a beachside candlelight vigil with counselors on hand for anyone who needed their help. They planned to be on hand Saturday as well, WFSB television station in Hartford reported.

    Family members and friends at the Jonathan Law High School in Milford were devastated by the attack.

    “The unprovoked attack on Maren this morning has unfortunately for our family resulted in the permanent loss of Maren Victoria Sanchez, a bright light full of hopes and dreams with her future at her fingertips,” her cousin, Edward Kovac, said Friday, on behalf of the family.

    More than 200 students turned up for the beach memorial dressed in prom tuxedos and dresses.

    Sanchez was very excited about attending the prom with her boyfriend and posted a photograph of herself on Facebook wearing a blue prom dress.

    Post by Maren Sanchez – In Our Hearts.

    “We were just laughing, talking about what we were going to do when we got there, how many pictures we were going to take,” said friend, Imani Langston, remembering a conversation they had the day before the stabbing.

    Post by Maren Sanchez – In Our Hearts.

    Sanchez, who was involved in drama, was helping to paint the set for a high school production of “Little Shop of Horrors” when she asked to be excused to have her nails done for prom, drama adviser Michael Mele said.

    “So here is this girl with her freshly painted prom nails, painting the set, and just having a great time with her classmates talking about plans for the prom and plans for after prom and going on a double date with another one of the drama kids and her new boyfriend,” Mele said.

    Post by Maren Sanchez – In Our Hearts.

    According to the 16-year-old suspect‘s lawyer, Richard Meehan, the teen was initially charged as a juvenile, but Connecticut law allows the authorities to try minors as adults for murder and other serious crimes.

    State’s Attorney Kevin Lawlor said there are several factors that go into making a decision to try a minor as an adult. The only exclusion would be for a minor under the age of 14.

    Meehan told reporters the young man’s family was distraught.

    “They’re devastated not only for him but they’re devastated for Maren Sanchez’s family as well,” he said. “This is every parent’s worst nightmare.”

    Image via Facebook, Maren Sanchez

  • Pittsburg School Stabbing: 21 Lives Affected

    A 16-year old teenage boy running around with two kitchen knives went on a stabbing rampage at his high school in Murrysville, Pennsylvania, early Wednesday, before being tackled by an assistant principal, authorities said.

    At least 20 people at Franklin Regional Senior High School, just east of Pittsburgh, were injured – about half of them seriously – and the accused attacker is in custody, Police Chief Thomas Seefeld said.

    The horrible event began in the school hallway just before classes started, with the attacker allegedly going from classroom to classroom.

    A doctor who treated six of the victims said most of them didn’t immediately know what happened. They were still in shock apparently.

    “They just felt pain and noticed they were bleeding,” Dr. Timothy VanFleet, chief of emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, told CNN’s Ashleigh Banfield.

    “Almost all of them said they didn’t see anyone coming at them. It apparently was a crowded hallway and they were going about their business, and then just felt pain and started bleeding.”

    Student Mia Meixner was standing at her locker and who was an eyewitness:

    “I heard a big commotion like behind my back,” she told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “And I turned around and I saw two kids on the ground.”

    She thought a fight had broken out, but then she saw blood. “I saw the kid who was stabbing people get up and run away,” she said.

    Meixner said she saw three students help a bleeding freshman, saying they were taking him to a nurse. Then she saw a senior girl she knew.

    “She was standing by the cafeteria doors. … She was gushing blood down her arm.”

    Meixner dropped her books and went to help the girl.

    “I started hearing a stampede of students coming down from the other end of the hall, saying ‘Get out, we need to leave, go, there’s a kid with a knife.’ Then a teacher came over to me and the girl I was trying to help. And she said she would handle the girl and that I should run out. So then I just ran out of the school and tried to get out as soon as possible.”

    Blitzer asked Meixner whether the stabbing suspect said anything.

    “No. He was very quiet. He just was kind of doing it,” Meixner answered. “And he had this, like, look on his face that he was just crazy and he was just running around just stabbing whoever was in his way.”

    She said she didn’t know the boy, but he had been in a lot of her classes. “He kept to himself a lot,” she said. “He didn’t have that many friends that I know of, but I also don’t know of him getting bullied that much. I actually never heard of him getting bullied. He just was kind of shy and didn’t talk to many people.”

    Pittsburg Police are expected to give a press release this afternoon with further details.

    Image via YouTube

  • Franklin Regional High School Stabbing Suspect ID’d

    The Franklin Regional High School stabbing that happened at the beginning of the school day on Wednesday now has a suspect. It was a 16-year-old boy who seemed all-in-all a “normal kid” to his classmates. His name has yet to be released and his motives were unclear, according to ABC.

    There were 20 people injured this morning and no fatalities were reported, said Westmoreland County emergency management spokesman Dan Stevens.

    However, the injuries ranged from cuts and bruises to pretty serious, one of which was a school security guard who was stabbed in the stomach.

    “We were ready to handle what came in the door,” Dr. Mark Rubino, chief medical officer at Forbes Hospital said, adding that at one point there were 20 surgeons in the emergency room. 3 of the 8 victims his team treated had severe injuries.

    Rubino said the injuries ranged from “relatively superficial wounds” to “severe injuries to abdominal injuries.” Interestingly, he noted that almost all of the stab wounds appeared to follow a pattern.

    They were also almost all sliced across their lower abdomens. Whether or not there is any significance in the pattern is not yet known. The attack lasted from 7:13am and was over by 7:45am, according to AFP.

    There have been many heroic stories that have come from this fiasco, one of which is about a student who saw what was going on and pulled the fire alarm to try to evacuate the building. Alyssa Finch, fellow student, said he did it “because he knew what was happening … and he wanted the people to get out.”

    The school’s principal and another staff member overpowered the attacker, saving who knows how many other students from harm. Neither were injured. As time goes on, hopefully we’ll find out more about the motives behind this shocking attack and some more acts of selfless heroism.

    Image via YouTube

  • Spring High School Stabbing Leaves 1 Dead, Kids Afraid

    Spring High School, located about 20 miles north of Houston, was the scene of a bloody confrontation this morning after four students were involved in a fight that escalated into violence.

    17-year old Joshua Broussard was stabbed to death in the fight, which left three other students wounded; one of them, a 16-year old student, was taken to Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston by air-ambulance.

    Lakesia Brent, mom to a 17-year old student, said she received several frantic texts from her son this morning asking her to come pick him up.

    “He’s just afraid,” she said.

    Brent also said that acts of violence were not uncommon at the school last year, calling it “ridiculous”.

    Officials say they have three other people in custody for a line of questioning regarding the confrontation, but they have not made any arrests yet. As of now, they are following up on allegations that the fight occurred due to gang activity.

    “However, deputies had not been called to the school about gang violence before today,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.