The stabbing was reported around 8:30 a.m., Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer said Wednesday at a news conference.
Dwyer said a 17-year-old girl got into an unspecified altercation with the victim over a boy with whom they were both involved. The 17-year-old girl had what Dwyer described as a kitchen-style steak knife with her. She stabbed the victim twice in the chest, he said.
Around 20 or 30 students were in the classroom at the time of the stabbing, as was the teacher, Dwyer said. A school resource officer heard screams coming from the room and arrived on the scene within seconds, according to police.
The school resource officer attempted to perform CPR on the injured 16-year-old. She was taken to St. John Oakland Hospital, where she was pronounced dead around 9:30 a.m., Dwyer said.
“It’s just a true tragedy,” he said. “I mean, you’re talking about two young ladies that were students, that were going to school to learn, that had some sort of a personal problem -- at least, the suspect in the case had a problem with the victim. It’s just a true tragedy.”
Dwyer said both the victim and the suspect were straight-A students who had not been in trouble before. The victim had been a member of the cross country team, the robotics club, the marching band, the National Honor Society and other groups.
“I can’t emphasize enough how this department feels, the sadness and the prayers that go out to the victim’s family,” Dwyer said. “I know that the school resource officer is having a very difficult time. (He) immediately started CPR on the victim, and right now he’ll be getting counseling too, because of the grief that he feels.”
The 17-year-old suspect was arrested without incident after the stabbing, Dwyer said. He said investigators would ask prosecutors for a warrant to charge the teenager with murder.
The school was closed Wednesday after the stabbing. Dwyer said it would remain closed Thursday.
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