Utah police say a 16-year-old student accused of stabbing five other students inside his high school locker room stabbed himself before he was subdued with a Taser and taken into custody.
The stabbings happened as the students at Mountain View High School in Orem were preparing for a morning physical education class.
Orem Police Chief Gary Giles tells how school employees boxed the teen into a corner before the first police officer arrived, risking their lives to stop the bloodshed. During a press conference earlier Tuesday, District spokeswoman Kimberly Bird spoke about their actions.
“Seeing a student with a weapon in hand- that’s got to be one of the most frightening things that you can think of, but there is something in us that triggers and they were wanting to protect the individual probably from himself and all of the other students who were in harm’s way,” she said.
Injured students suffered wounds to their necks and torso. They are being treated at area hospitals and their conditions range from critical to fair. The suspect was also hospitalized.
Bird says he was a straight-A student with no disciple problems.
“You know we like to say that there is a way that we can know about and figure these things out, and we will continue to use those as indicators, but sometimes they do not follow the typical pattern and then we are left to the regroup and figure out that we can get to know kids even better,” Bird said.
The suspect was a new student who was previously homeschooled.
UPDATE: Utah Valley Hospital spokeswoman Janet Frank said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that two of the students are in critical but stable condition. Two others are in fair condition. Police say a fifth victim was released earlier Tuesday.
The suspect, a 16-year-old student who also stabbed himself in the neck, was released from the hospital but is in police custody.
Police in Utah have posted a letter online that they say is from the parents of a teen accused of stabbing five classmates and that apologizes for their son's actions.
The letter says none of the victims had done anything to hurt their son. Police aren't releasing the name of the suspect or victims, citing their ages. The five are expected to survive.
Orem police posted a picture of the hand-written letter on its official Twitter account Tuesday. It says the stabbings weren't racially or ethnically motivated and that the parents cannot express how sorry they are for the pain their son caused.
