A 17-year-old student is being charged as an adult after allegedly stabbing a classmate at Great Mills High School in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. The 19-year-old victim has since been released from the hospital and is recovering from a stab wound to the chest.
The incident occurred around noon on Tuesday when the two students got into an altercation inside a school bathroom, according to the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators say the suspect pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim once just beneath his pectoral muscle, according to local Fox 5 DC.
The injured student was airlifted from the school’s baseball field to a nearby hospital shortly before 1 p.m. He was released Wednesday afternoon.
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The 17-year-old suspect was taken into custody at the scene, and authorities recovered the weapon, described as a folding pocketknife.
The teen suspect is being charged as an adult with first- and second-degree assault and possession of a dangerous weapon on school property. Charging documents were not immediately available, because the suspect is a minor.
“I heard what was going on. We saw the helicopter land because we live right there and we watched it go around in a circle and I came outside, and they told me what happened — somebody got stabbed, and they had the stabber in custody, and he wasn’t running around causing a threat, and I was glad, too,” neighbor Edward Harris told Fox 5.
Students were held in their classrooms while a school resource officer secured the building. Officials credited the on-site school resource officer (SRO), school nursing staff and responding medical personnel for their swift response.
“There was very swift action by our SRO, who was on scene, able to get there as quickly and as safely as possible,” St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office Detective Helen Deitrich said.
“He was able to disseminate information in real time, because he is within that school, the help from our medical professionals who arrived on scene and quickly assessed the victim, as well as the nursing staff at the school, they did a phenomenal job.”
The sheriff’s office said the investigation remains ongoing, and it is not yet clear what led to the altercation.
