A 16-year-old Pennsylvania student was charged as an adult with multiple counts of attempted homicide and assault in the stabbing rampage that left 22 people wounded at his high school on Wednesday, a police official said.
Murrysville police Captain Rob Liermann identified the teen as Alex Hribal and said he faced four counts of attempted homicide and 21 counts of aggravated assault. A preliminary hearing is expected in seven to 10 days, he added.
The attacker moved stealthily through Franklin Regional High School, stabbing his victims in the torso and slashing arms and faces before anyone realized what was happening, students and officials said. Some of the injured taken to nearby hospitals were in critical condition, doctors said.
Students described a scene of panic, with the school hastily evacuated after a fire alarm was pulled. Hribal, a sophomore, was in police custody, said Tom Seefeld, chief of police in Murrysville, Pennsylvania.
The attacker, described by a classmate as a quiet person who kept to himself, started his rampage at around 7:13 a.m. EDT, walking along the hallways to several classrooms at the school in Murrysville, 20 miles east of Pittsburgh, officials said.
Assistant Principal Sam King tackled the boy, who was armed with two "straight knives" of about 8 to 10 inches, and an armed security officer handcuffed him with help from the principal, Seefeld said.
"We had 20 students and one adult, a school safety officer, that were injured today," Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck told a news conference,
He said the teen will likely be charged as an adult, possibly with aggravated assault and attempted murder, and then his name will be released.
Screaming 'bloody murder'
Freshman Josh Frank said he did not initially realize that anyone had been stabbed, but fled when he heard screaming.
"He did it so stealthily that at first no one knew what was happening," Frank said. "We heard a girl scream bloody murder. Then two seniors were running down the hall and we followed them out of the school."
A total of 22 people, most of them 14 to 17 years old, were transported to area hospitals, four by medical helicopters. Several had life-threatening injuries, with nine in critical condition, hospital officials said.
A 17-year-old boy was the most seriously injured, The Los Angeles Times reported, with a single 4-centimeter stab wound that reached through to his spine, a hospital spokesperson said. The boy was speaking when he arrived at the hospital and has undergone surgery to stop the bleeding, she said. He will undergo more surgeries in the days ahead.
The knife missed the boy's heart and aorta by millimeters, said Dr. Louis Alarcon, director of trauma surgery at UPMC Presbyterian, where the boy was being treated. He was on breathing machines and sedated, Alarcon said at a news conference. Doctors are concerned about additional blood clotting and bleeding, The Times reported, but "we are very optimistic that he is going to make it," Alarcon said.
"Patients who are stabbed in the abdomen and chest by definition have life-threatening injuries," said Chris Kauffman, director of trauma at Forbes Regional Hospital, where some of the injured were treated.
The attacker used a large knife, based on the wounds suffered by at least one of his victims, said a doctor who had operated on a 17-year-old student with a large chest wound.
"Apparently it was a large knife of some sort, because it was a large injury to his abdominal wall and went through his liver, diaphragm and major blood vessels," said Dr. Louis Alarcon of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. "Fortunately for this young man, the knife missed his heart and his aorta."
Doctors also said a female student helped save a male schoolmate by applying pressure to his wound until emergency responders arrived.
"She displayed an amazing amount of composure to help that friend who was having pretty significant bleeding at that point," said Dr. Mark Rubino, of Forbes Regional Hospital.
Suspect treated, students shook up
The suspect was also being treated for injuries to his hands, Seefeld said. By late afternoon, he said, one or two of the victims were "still pretty critical."
Police and the FBI were searching the 16-year-old suspect's home, situated at the end of a quiet cul de sac. Neighbors said both parents work and the teen has a brother who also attends Franklin Regional High School.
"I don't know him really well, but he's always said 'hi'," said neighbor Lori Renda, 47, who said he played with her own children. "The family is so nice. Very, very nice."
A student at the school who witnessed the incident said she had been in several classes with the suspected attacker.
"He's kind of quiet and he keeps to himself," the student, Mia Meixner, told CNN. "He was never mean to anyone and I don't think anyone was mean to him."
As they were reunited with parents near the hilltop high school in the relatively affluent Pittsburgh suburb with a population of about 20,000, teens spoke about the incident.
Michael Float, an 18-year-old senior, described running down a staircase and finding a friend badly wounded.
"There was a pool of blood," Float said. "He had blood pouring down the right side of his stomach," and a teacher was applying pressure on the wound.
Zak Amsler, a 17-year-old junior, said the attack occurred just before his first class was about 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."
The brother of one of injured students, told the Los Angeles Times that his sibling, Jared Boger, a junior, was stabbed in the chest.
"He's in critical condition but they've stopped the serious bleeding," Carter Boger said in a message.
Alex Carolla said his 17-year-old sister, a senior, was stabbed in the hand and taken to a hospital. "She's stable; she's OK," said Carolla, a 19-year-old sophomore at Ohio University, adding, "When I talked to her, she seemed all right, but she got a little more upset when I asked her about the other kids, who else was hurt."
One apparent student victim, Nate Scimio, posted a widely circulating selfie from the hospital of himself in a gown, smirking and pointing to a bandage on his forearm.
Governor responds
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett said he had ordered state police to help local law enforcement respond to the incident. The FBI also said it had deployed agents to work with local law enforcement.
"As a parent and grandparent, I can think of nothing more distressing than senseless violence against children," Corbett said.
"I was shocked and saddened upon learning of the events that occurred this morning as students arrived at Franklin Regional High School. As a parent and grandparent, I can think of nothing more distressing than senseless violence against children. My heart and prayers go out to all the victims and their families."
"I have directed the Pennsylvania State Police to assist local law enforcement in its investigation in any way possible. Other state resources will be made available to the community, if needed. I assure the citizens of Murrysville that they have the full support of my administration."
Police refused to answer questions about the security system in place at the high school, The Times reported, but an employee from a security company that provides guards at the school said it had no metal detector. In an interview with the Pittsburgh CBS affiliate, the employee, Jeff Dahlke, said security officials had visited the campus Tuesday to look into possibly installing metal detectors or finding other ways to make the campus more secure.
Gennaro Piraino, superintendent of the Franklin Regional School District, said the high school would be closed for the next two to three days while police conduct an investigation.
Reuters and the Los Angeles Times