Police are investigating after a stabbing took place Monday at a high school in Buffalo, New York, where multiple violent incidents have occurred in recent years.
Authorities say a 15-year-old boy was stabbed three times by another student in the attack, receiving wounds in the neck, back and arm. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance while the school was in lockdown and is now in "serious but stable" condition, police said in a news conference.
Police said they have two people in custody and have recovered the knife used in the attack. Detectives are working with the district attorney's office to determine the appropriate charges for the individuals, police said.
The fight took place in a stairwell between periods and was captured on the school's security camera system. The individuals involved escaped to a classroom on the third floor while a security guard quickly assisted the victim to the nurse's office. Police then took the suspects into custody.
Detectives say the incident stemmed from another stabbing that occurred earlier this summer involving the same individuals, so they do not believe it to be a random attack.
McKinley High School is located on Elmwood Avenue not far from Buffalo State University, the Buffalo AKG Art Museum and the Richardson Olmsted Campus. In the past few years, there have been numerous violent incidents there.
In February 2022, a 14-year-old student was stabbed 10 times — nine times in the chest and abdomen and once in the leg — and a security officer was shot in the leg after a dispute occurred between multiple people at the high school. A 13-year-old student was also grazed by a bullet on his side during the incident.
McKinley history teacher Joseph Marciniak told Scripps News Buffalo then that the school was "dangerous, bordering on child abuse" because of what students have experienced at the school, particularly since Marck Abraham became principal in 2017.
Multiple sources told Scripps News Buffalo that under Abraham's leadership, violence increased, bad behavior was not disciplined and teachers were punished. In January 2018, the Buffalo Teachers Federation filed an unprecedented vote of no confidence against Abraham, but then-superintendent Dr. Kriner Cash stood by him.
In February 2019, a student assaulted a McKinley teacher and left him with an inches-long wound. The teacher told Scripps News Buffalo anonymously that the district "ended up siding with the student and decided that I should be the one who should be removed." Legal counsel for the district later told Scripps News Buffalo that it elected to transfer the teacher "to protect his own safety."
Earlier this year, parents called on Buffalo schools to address the McKinley High School violence after multiple videos captured fights breaking out in the hallways. Superintendent Tonja Williams said in response that she has "no greater priority for our students than safety" and that the staff and community needed to work together to address the issues.
This story was originally published on Scripps News Buffalo.
