A shocking video shows a 15-year-old student being fatally stabbed with a knife by a 14-year-old classmate, on Monday (Nov 27) during a brawl which broke out at a school in the US state of North Carolina. Another student, aged 16, was injured and taken to the hospital after the incident.
What happened?
The incident took place inside the gym at Southeast Raleigh High School. The footage shows a child wearing a grey hoodie and black jacket repeatedly punching another student wearing a red jacket and white t-shirt who then responded with his own punch.
Subsequently, the fight spills into the school gym with other students quickly following the brawl and filming the incident on their phones.
As the fighting escalated, one of the students appeared to jab at two teens with a sharp object before fleeing, reported the New York Times, citing footage obtained by media outlets WRAL News and CBS 17.
About the victims and suspect
Speaking about the victims, the local police chief said that both students were taken to the hospital and one of them later succumbed to his injuries.
“Both victims were transported to an area hospital,” Raleigh police chief Estella Patterson said during a press conference.
“Sadly one victim succumbed to his injuries,” she added. The police chief also called the incident “very unfortunate” and “one that is very disturbing to us.”
The teen who has been accused of stabbing his two peers has been arrested and charged with murder on a juvenile petition, reported WRAL News.
The police said that the student who died was 15 years old and the other student who was injured and is hospitalised is aged 16. Both the victims and the suspect have not been identified.
Cherelle McLaughlin, the mother of the alleged stabber, told WRAL News her son was acting in self-defence and claimed he was concerned for his safety at the school.
“I don’t believe he took the knife into school,” McLaughlin told the local media. “I believe he got the knife from somebody in the school because he did not go to school with a knife. I dropped him off at school, he did not go to school with it.”
“The whole situation is terrible,” said McLaughlin. She also went on to say how she feels bad for the other family but also for her son “because he was fighting for his life. It wasn’t a fair fight. I just don’t think it should have happened like that.”
The school cancelled classes and after-school activities on Tuesday (Nov 28) to allow students to process the incident and their classmate’s death.
(With inputs from agencies)
