School Violence in Suburban Pittsburgh

[Content Note: Violence.]

This morning, a student wielding two knives went on a stabbing spree at Franklin Regional High School in the Pittsburgh suburb of Murrysville, leaving at least 19 students and a school security guard injured, some of them seriously:

The suspect, a 16-year-old sophomore, was in custody and being questioned by police, authorities said. His motive was unclear, said Dan Stevens, a Westmoreland County emergency management spokesman.

The student was "flashing two knives around" as he moved through the classrooms and a first-floor hallway, said Thomas Seefeld, the Murrysville police chief. A school security guard handcuffed the student and suffered a wound to the stomach, the chief said.

The attack happened at Franklin Regional High School, in the suburb of Murrysville, just after doors opened for the day. A student described panic in the halls.

"I was walking into the school and a stampede of people were running after me," said the student, Kari Lee, who said several of her friends had been knifed. "They were screaming, 'Go to your cars! Go to your cars! Someone is stabbing people!'"

Seven teenagers and an adult were taken to Forbes Regional Hospital, Dr. Chris Kauffman, the trauma director there, told NBC News. The seven were stabbed in the chest, back and abdomen, he said. He characterized some of the injuries as life-threatening but said everyone was expected to live.

That is very good news. I hope everyone who survived, both physical injuries and the trauma of the attack, has the resources they will need to begin recovery.

I'm sure we'll be hearing, in coming days, all sorts of familiar refrains regarding the perpetrator. He played violent video games; he's mentally ill; etc. as we collectively write another narrative of violence that happens in vacuum.