3 students stabbed; Pa. school evacuated

[Jahness]

3 students stabbed; Pa. school evacuated

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM,
Associated Press Writer

Three students were stabbed Wednesday morning at a junior/senior high school by an angry student who had a canister of propane when confronted by school administrators, school and police officials said.

The student at Antietam Middle-Senior High School in Lower Alsace Township was taken into custody by police after school officials disarmed the boy. Students were evacuated to a district building in a neighboring community.

Principal James Snyder said he and a teacher were responding to a disturbance when they confronted the student, who held them at bay with the canister.

"He was very upset with the school and with all the people who were in the school at that particular time," Snyder said.

When the boy would not surrender, a teacher swatted the student's arm, knocking the canister from his hand, Snyder said.

"We pushed him to the wall and kept him to a confined area so he wasn't going anywhere," Snyder said. "He wasn't saying anything to us."

A 16-year-old girl was taken to Reading Hospital with cuts to both hands, hospital spokesman William J. Rudolph Jr. said. Doctors also treated a 15-year-old girl with a small wound to her upper back and a 14-year-old boy with a small wound to his upper right arm, he said. All three have been released, Rudolph said.

The Reading bomb squad and numerous police agencies were called to the scene, said state police Lt. Thomas G. McDaniel said. The suspect also had a small bottle of unidentified liquid, Berks Regional police said.

Ninth-grader Jim Greager, 14, said he was in a hallway when he saw another student running down the hall screaming, "Help! Help! Help!"

Brian Macluskie, 15, also a ninth-grader, said students thought it was a drill when the school was evacuated, "until we saw cop cars out front."

"People were crying; they were scared. Everyone was calling parents on cell phones. Rumors started flying," Macluskie said.

The school enrolls grades seven through 12 and is located about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

___

On the Net:

Antietam Middle-Senior High School:

http://www.antietamsd.org/secondary/index.html

Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press.

[JemChi]

"He was very upset with the school and with all the people who were in the school at that particular time," Snyder said

I wonder what's really going on with this youngster.

[Jahness]

Originally Posted by JemChi

I wonder what's really going on with this youngster.

Greetings JemChi!

It's hard to say exactly what's in these youths minds today, but something made him click. The youths of today have such short fuses that anything can set them off.

Granted he may have been reaching out fro help prior to this incident, and the powers that be that surrounded him may have tried to help out. But it seems as if it is harder and harder to reach the youths today.

They have so much rage and anger bottled up inside of them sometimes for the simplest things but to them it can cause their world to come crashing down in front of them and then they decide to rebel and lash out at the world at large.

Now look at this statement made by the principal especially the part highlighted in red

Principal James Snyder said he and a teacher were responding to a disturbance when they confronted the student, who held them at bay with the canister.
"He was very upset with the school and with all the people who were in the school at that particular time," Snyder said.

Now tell me, even that statement makes absolutely no sense. How can this youth be upset with all the people who were in the school at that particular time. Now just the thought of that shows that there is a serious problem and maybe that is why it reached to such a high level of this youth lashing out at anyone he can.

Some type of intervention plan has to be implemented for schools to help stop the esculating violence.

Much appreciation Queen for takig the time to share.

Peace!