School stabbing in Pennsylvania renews fears
MURRYSVILLE, Pa. — The hallways were buzzing with pupils arriving for classes at Franklin Regional Senior High School when screams, shouts and the thunder of running feet broke the morning routine.
"Run, run! He has a knife!" a teacher yelled Wednesday as a boy charged through the first-floor corridor, slashing and stabbing anyone who got in his way in a melee that unfolded like a scene from a horror film.
He fought off a group of boys who tried to pin him down. By the time he was tackled by a security guard and vice principal, he had wounded at least 19 classmates, including three who underwent surgery for what doctors called deep, life-threatening puncture wounds. Two adults also were injured, including the security guard who helped subdue the assailant.
All of the victims were expected to survive, but school officials, students and parents were left shaken by the latest bloody rampage at what should be a safe haven: a public school.
"This is a very difficult day for this community … but also for the country," said Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, who called the attack "one horrific five-minute period."
The suspect, 16-year-old sophomore Alex Hribal, was charged as an adult Wednesday night with four counts of attempted homicide, 21 counts of aggravated assault and one count of bringing a weapon onto school property, said his attorney, Patrick Thomassey. Hribal was being held without bail at the county juvenile detention center.
The teen, who was treated for a minor hand wound, appeared in court in shackles and a hospital gown, Thomassey said, adding that Hribal's parents found out about the attack on the news and were "devastated."
"There was no indication there was any reason for this to occur, no sense of trouble about anything," Thomassey said. "He's a good student; he interacted well with other students.... They didn't see this coming; they're mystified and mortified."
Thomassey declined to talk about a motive or whether Hribal had been bullied. Franklin is the only public high school in this Pittsburgh suburb of about 20,000 people.
"He's frightened," Thomassey said. "He's a 16-year-old kid who looks like he's 10."
Police converged on his family's home in Heritage Estates, a hilly community of spacious homes.
Michelle Kresak, who lives nearby, was stunned by news that the boy she remembered as a "super-nice kid" who came trick-or-treating on Halloween could do such a thing, or that it could happen in their quiet suburb. "Oh my God, he was so normal," she said while out walking her dog.
But she added: "Sometimes you don't know. A lot of kids keep it all inside."
Julia Nitchman, who sat near Hribal in an English class, said he seemed like "a kind of quiet kid" who was into computers. She said he didn't seem to have a large circle of friends: "He's very quiet, not very social. He just kind of laid low."
At first, many pupils thought a fight had broken out when they heard the ruckus at about 7:15 a.m., shortly before classes began.
Then the reality set in.
Mia Meixner saw a classmate who had fallen in the hallway stand up. He lifted his shirt to reveal a stab wound to his stomach.
"I saw blood gushing everywhere," said Meixner, 16. She said the stabber began sprinting down the hallway, knocking people over.
Cameron Lazor, also 16, said she saw the assailant holding two knives — described by police later as measuring 8 to 10 inches long each.
Lazor watched the attacker struggle with some boys trying to subdue him. He escaped after wounding one of the boys and continued his rampage, stabbing anyone who did not run fast enough to escape the flailing blades.
He fought off a group of boys who tried to pin him down. By the time he was tackled by a security guard and vice principal, he had wounded at least 19 classmates, including three who underwent surgery for what doctors called deep, life-threatening puncture wounds. Two adults also were injured, including the security guard who helped subdue the assailant.
All of the victims were expected to survive, but school officials, students and parents were left shaken by the latest bloody rampage at what should be a safe haven: a public school.
"This is a very difficult day for this community … but also for the country," said Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, who called the attack "one horrific five-minute period."
The suspect, 16-year-old sophomore Alex Hribal, was charged as an adult Wednesday night with four counts of attempted homicide, 21 counts of aggravated assault and one count of bringing a weapon onto school property, said his attorney, Patrick Thomassey. Hribal was being held without bail at the county juvenile detention center.
The teen, who was treated for a minor hand wound, appeared in court in shackles and a hospital gown, Thomassey said, adding that Hribal's parents found out about the attack on the news and were "devastated."
"There was no indication there was any reason for this to occur, no sense of trouble about anything," Thomassey said. "He's a good student; he interacted well with other students.... They didn't see this coming; they're mystified and mortified."
Thomassey declined to talk about a motive or whether Hribal had been bullied. Franklin is the only public high school in this Pittsburgh suburb of about 20,000 people.
"He's frightened," Thomassey said. "He's a 16-year-old kid who looks like he's 10."
Police converged on his family's home in Heritage Estates, a hilly community of spacious homes.
Michelle Kresak, who lives nearby, was stunned by news that the boy she remembered as a "super-nice kid" who came trick-or-treating on Halloween could do such a thing, or that it could happen in their quiet suburb. "Oh my God, he was so normal," she said while out walking her dog.
But she added: "Sometimes you don't know. A lot of kids keep it all inside."
Julia Nitchman, who sat near Hribal in an English class, said he seemed like "a kind of quiet kid" who was into computers. She said he didn't seem to have a large circle of friends: "He's very quiet, not very social. He just kind of laid low."
At first, many pupils thought a fight had broken out when they heard the ruckus at about 7:15 a.m., shortly before classes began.
Then the reality set in.
Mia Meixner saw a classmate who had fallen in the hallway stand up. He lifted his shirt to reveal a stab wound to his stomach.
"I saw blood gushing everywhere," said Meixner, 16. She said the stabber began sprinting down the hallway, knocking people over.
Cameron Lazor, also 16, said she saw the assailant holding two knives — described by police later as measuring 8 to 10 inches long each.
Lazor watched the attacker struggle with some boys trying to subdue him. He escaped after wounding one of the boys and continued his rampage, stabbing anyone who did not run fast enough to escape the flailing blades.
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