The Scottsdale Unified School District community is in shock after a 13-year-old boy was hospitalized after being stabbed a fellow female student on Friday morning.
The incident occurred at Mohave Middle School near North 86th Street and East Jackrabbit Road, during the lunch period.
The 13-year-old girl was taken into custody. The case has be referred to the juvenile division of the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.
The District sent the following message to parents:
Dear SUSD Parent,
You may be hearing about a stabbing incident that took place this morning at Mohave Middle School, and we want to share what facts we can with you about what happened.
While the Scottsdale Police Department’s investigation into the matter is ongoing, we can tell you that the student who suffered a single stab blue and suffered in a non-life-threatening injury and will be hospitalized overnight for observation. Another student was taken into custody. The incident took place outside, during lunch.
I want to take this opportunity to thank the Mojave school staff and Scottsdale PD for their expeditious response and actions to secure the safety of the rest of the student body in the incident’s immediate aftermath. We want to emphasize that the incident involved these two students only and the general student body was not in danger.
We do not want to speculate about what led up to the incident; however we want to reiterate some basic information for all families:
It is a violation of Arizona law, Scottsdale city ordinance, and the SUSD Student Code of Conduct to bring or be in possession of a weapon on campus. Students have access to resources at their schools to help them resolve differences with peers, including teachers, administrators, guidance counselors, social workers, and police department School Resource Officers (SROs). Please encourage your students to avail themselves of these resources or speak to another trusted adult, rather than take matters into their own hands. We know that interpersonal situations can seem overwhelming at times especially to teenagers in unfamiliar emotional territory. SUSD will have additional support on the Mohave campus on Monday to help any students who may be struggling with what they may have witnessed, saw social media, or heard through the grapevine. We know these continue to be stressful times for everyone, including our students. We also know that this news is disconcerting, and we will provide additional updates as we are able. Please take care of yourselves and your families.
Sincerely,
Dr. Scott A. Menzel
SuperintendentChief Jeff Walther
Scottsdale Police Department