BUFFALO, N.Y. — A family is in disbelief Monday night after dropping their child off at school and picking them up at the hospital.
Buffalo Police were called to McKinley High School after a 15-year-old male student was stabbed by another student around 1:10 p.m.
Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said in a press conference that the incident took place during a change in classes. He said that a fight broke out in a stairwell and that a student took out a knife and stabbed another student three times before fleeing.
The victim, who was stabbed in the neck, back, and arm, was quickly attended to by a security guard who brought him to the nurse's office for treatment. The student was then taken by ambulance to Oishei Children's Hospital. Gramaglia says the injuries are serious, but that the student is in stable condition.
Two other students were taken into custody, and Buffalo Police announced Monday evening that a 15-year-old male has been arrested and charged with assault and unlawful possession of a weapon. A shelter-in-place was initiated at the time of the incident, but the school was stabilized, according to officials.
Gramaglia said the attack was not random and that the three students were known to each other. He said they were involved in a stabbing incident in July on Main Street.
Authorities said they still do not know how the knife got into the building.
“There’s weapons detection,” Gramaglia said. “There is a difference between a metal detector and a weapons detection. They do detect knives.”
Monday’s incident is the fourth stabbing to take place at a Buffalo Public School in the past three years. It follows incidents at Buffalo Culinary in 2022, Riverside High School in 2023 and Lafayette High School just this past spring.
2 On Your Side pressed Superintendent Dr. Tonja Williams Knight about the reoccurring violence.
“I know folks feel that the pandemic is over, and it's a thing of the past, but the behaviors that we're seeing nationally from everyone, not just our young people, are heightened,” she said. “Mental health is really real. I just want to again ask parents: Talk to your children. I know some are 16 and 17 years old. You’ve got to talk to your children.”
2 On Your Side also spoke with a person who identified herself as the victim’s grandmother Monday. She said Monday is the second time her 15-year-old grandson has been stabbed, and she’s calling on the school to add heightened security.
“They're not protecting our children here,” she said. “Somebody's going to have to homeschool him or something because he's not coming back here.”
Classes will resume at McKinley Tuesday, and a crisis response team will be on campus, as well as extra security.
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