Another day another dismal headline of some killing spree and while the American people is becoming almost numb to these dreadful occurrences, this one was different. As Reuters reports [3], twenty people were injured, at least nine seriously, when a student at a Pittsburgh-area high school went on a stabbing rampage early on Wednesday. We are sure the administration is closely watching the events and considering what actions to take to ensure this does not happen again. The good news, for now, is that no one has died but indications are that these are very serious injuries.
As Reuters reports, [3] seven students between the ages of 15 and 17 and one adult were admitted to Forbes Regional Hospital in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, with stab wounds.
"These are all very serious injuries," hospital spokesman Jesse Miller said in a telephone interview.
The attacks took place in several classrooms and hallways as the school day began at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, 20 miles east of Pittsburgh, county emergency management officials said. The first 911 call was received at 7:13 a.m. EDT.
Three of the patients admitted were in surgery and all eight were in critical condition, hospital spokesman Miller said.
He said a ninth patient who had arrived at the hospital was airlifted to another facility.
The school district posted an emergency message on its website on Wednesday.
"A critical incident has occurred at the high school," the message said. "All elementary schools are canceled, the middle school and high school students are secure."
Zak Amsler, a 17-year-old junior at the school, said the attack occurred just before his first class was scheduled to begin.
"I saw a girl with blood running out of her sleeve," Amsler said as he waited to pick up his younger sister, a student at the nearby middle school. "It was pretty mind-blowing."
Stevens, the county official, noted that the scene had been contained. "The students that are here are safe," he told reporters.
It's not just the US though, as CBC reports [4], 4 people were stabbed in a Toronto office today:
One man is in custody after Toronto police say at least four people were stabbed at an office building in the northern part of the city today.
Police said the attack happened just after 9:30 a.m. ET on the fifth floor of an office complex at 4110 Yonge St., near York Mills Avenue.
Police received multiple 911 calls of an assailant attacking people with a sharp object.
A man and a woman in their 30s are among the people who were stabbed. The two suffered multiple, serious stab wounds, according to police, and are in critical condition in hospital.
Two other men whose ages are not known were transported with serious wounds to a trauma centre.
So what next? Spoons only at lunch? Knives issued only with RFIDs?