Annapolis High School
Two students at Annapolis High School in Maryland were stabbed or cut during a fight Wednesday morning, and police said seven other students were arrested in connection with the fight that forced the school to close.
Police said the injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. A fire department spokesman said a patient with a serious hand injury was taken by ambulance about 30 miles to a hospital in Baltimore, where doctors specialize in treating the hands. The other person was taken to a local hospital.
George Arlotto, superintendent of Anne Arundel County Public Schools, told reporters that investigators believe the fight stemmed from a community dispute about a week ago “and that this may have been some form of retaliation.”
Arlotto said the incident, which required students to be confined to classrooms for nearly 90 minutes, was “incredibly unfortunate and unacceptable in our schools,” particularly shortly after students returned to in-person learning after 18 months of lockdowns. by covid.
The names of the students who were injured and the detainees were not released because they were minors. Police said they are all Annapolis High School students and that more people could face charges as the investigation unfolds. Police said some could be charged later as adults.
Anne Arundel County Police spokeswoman Lt. Jacklyn Davis said two school resource officers were walking through the hallways when one saw the fight around 8:45 a.m. at the top of a ladder.
Davis said a teacher came out of a classroom and yelled, “He has a knife! He has a knife! “Davis said the officer demanded the armed student drop the knife and that the student obeyed. She said the student was arrested and others were identified with the help of surveillance camera videos and interviews.
During the investigation, police and school officials ordered the school closed, keeping students in classrooms and prohibiting anyone from entering or leaving the building, located near the Maryland capital. Parents were told that the school was safe and advised not to come there.
The closure was lifted at 10:10 a.m. Arlotto told reporters that he is not aware of previous fights at the school. Although it is located outside of the city of Annapolis, it mainly caters to students who live in the capital. She said school officials are in contact with Annapolis police to investigate the origins of the dispute.
Arlotto also said that he is still not sure how the knife got into the building. Students enter through a door but do not go through metal detectors.
According to Davies, two school resource officers and armed county police stationed at the school stopped the fight and saw it happen. A student who participated in the fight possessed a knife. Later, the SROs were able to make the student drop the knife and stop them. “We are fortunate that these SROs did exactly what they were trained to do,” one researcher told a news conference Wednesday. It is important to note here that all weapons, including knives, are prohibited on Anne Arundel County School property in accordance with the district’s code of conduct.
During the press conference, the police did not confirm that there were “several fights” on the school premises, but did discuss one. Authorities said the two people stabbed were students at the school. The school district sent an update letter to families stating that the lockdown had been lifted around 10:15 a.m. M. The incident is still being investigated. Police reported at the press conference that seven students, who were involved in the fight, all under the age of 18, have been charged in connection with the incident. However, the charges were not clear at the moment. Detectives further reported that the fight carried over to an earlier incident in the neighborhood and may have been some form of retaliation.
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