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 The attacker stalked through Franklin Regional High School in
Murrysville near Pittsburgh on Wednesday, stabbing victims in the
torso and slashing their arms and faces before being tackled by an
assistant principal, officials and students said.
Murrysville Police Department Captain Rob Liermann said 16-year-old
sophomore Alex Hribal was taken into custody and charged with
attempted homicide.
He had had no psychiatric or disciplinary problems, and his family
described him as a good student who mingled well with others, family
attorney Patrick Thomassey told ABC News.
"His parents are devastated and send their condolences to everybody
involved," Thomassey said. "They can't figure it out."
While the United States has seen a series of large-scale shootings
in public places in recent years, including schools, movie theaters
and shopping areas, mass stabbings are less common.
Police and the FBI on Wednesday searched the suspect's home.
Neighbors said both parents work, and the teen has a brother who
also attends Franklin Regional High School.
A classmate described Hribal as a quiet loner.
The high school will be closed for the next two to three days while
police conduct an investigation, officials said.
The victims were aged mostly 14 to 17 years. Several had
life-threatening injuries, hospital officials said.
Twenty-one students and a security officer were stabbed in the
incident, said Dan Stevens, a spokesman for Westmoreland County
emergency management.
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One 17-year-old was left severely injured after a knife passed
through the liver, diaphragm and major blood vessels, though it
missed his heart and his aorta.
On Wednesday evening community members held candlelight vigils for
the wounded.
Among them was 14-year-old Mikala Boyer, who said she fled as the
attack unfolded, but her friend was badly injured.
"Someone came running down the hallway screaming, 'This kid has a
knife and he's stabbing people' ... I ran outside into the woods
behind the school," she said.
Hribal faces four counts of attempted homicide and 21 counts of
aggravated assault, police said. He was ordered to face a
preliminary hearing in seven to 10 days.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Daley in Murrysville, Pennsylvania;
additional reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York, Dave Warner in
Philadelphia and Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; writing by Eric M.
Johnson; editing by John Stonestreet)
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