Boy Stabs 2 Teachers at Castor Gardens Secondary School

PHILADELPHIA — An 11-year-old boy was taken into custody after police said he stabbed two teachers with a kitchen knife at a Philadelphia middle school.

The double stabbing happened around 12:15 a.m. Tuesday at Castor Gardens Secondary School. Philadelphia Police say the student pulled out the knife and stabbed on the abdomen of a 63-year-old woman and on the arm of a 31-year-old woman.

“My understanding is that the child has some developmental issues. (He) at one point pulled out the knife and the students alerted the teachers,” Deputy Commander Frank Vanore said. “They jumped into action to make sure no one was injured and they were injured. So they prevented others from getting injured.”

The 63-year-old teacher was discharged after being hospitalized. The 31-year-old teacher refused medical treatment. Director Dr. Shawn McGuigan said his injuries were minor. While the student was detained, the police seized the knife.

——Article Continues Below——

In a letter to the school community, McGuigan said the school was placed on lockdown at the time of the incident. It was removed after 90 minutes.

Philly Teachers Union Leader Calls Incident ‘Epic Administrative Failure’

Arthur Steinberg, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, blamed the incident on the school’s “epic administrative failure” at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. NBC10. Steinberg said the school did not follow protocol following the stabbing and instead credited the teacher’s assistant with preventing the student from harming others after the attack. Steinberg claims the teacher was forced to warn staff because an alert was not sent out immediately after the incident.

“I want to recognize one of our members, paraprofessional Rasheima Hainey, who ran down the hallway as the attacker wandered around looking for more people to stab and warned the staff in their rooms not to open the door,” Steinberg said. . “He put himself at great risk and I am sure he saved countless lives and injuries.”

Steinberg also says the school’s “chronic investment” in various resources, personnel and equipment is to blame for the incident. There were 44 reported attacks on teachers at Castor Gardens Secondary School last year, according to school data.

“Chronic disinvestment goes to the services children need. Schools have equipment to detect metal and all other types of weapons and adequate staffing and supervision,” Steinberg said. “We hope that the student allegedly responsible received the professional support he should have received, which could have prevented this.”

Steinberg met with Superintendent Tony Watlington on Wednesday to demand a full investigation and changes to the district’s safety protocols.

Philly School Police Association President: Employees Lack Enough Training on Weapons Detection System

All middle and high schools in the Philadelphia School District, weapon detection systems. District spokeswoman Monique Braxton said the student went through the system when he entered the building, but the knife did not set off the alarm.

Bernadette Ambrose-Smith, president of the Philadelphia School Police Association, said school security officers do not receive formal training in using the systems: Philadelphia Researcher reports. When the district piloted the program, he said, his union notified district officials that managers were instructed to designate the employee they wanted to conduct the screening. The district then allowed non-security personnel to conduct screenings without any training, Ambrose-Smith said. According to Ambrose-Smith, the union asked for negotiations with the district on the issue, but district officials ignored the request.

Ambrose-Smith also said students often place objects containing metal on the table before going through the scanners. He said these items were not searched and students took them after passing through the detector.

“The metal detectors are going off and people are not checking the bags and belongings of children who pass through the metal detectors,” said a student from Castor Gardens Middle School. NBC10.

Braxton denies the allegations, saying employees are trained on how to operate the system.