Students at Mililani High School were outside at recess Monday morning when they heard screams from the second floor of a classroom building where two 16-year-old students, a girl and boy, were apparently stabbed by another student.
The Honolulu Police Department and Honolulu Emergency Medical Services responded at about 10:15 a.m. to a report of a stabbing. EMS treated and transported the injured students, who had apparently been stabbed in the upper body and were in serious condition but expected to survive, to a hospital, according to Shayne Enright, EMS spokeswoman.
Police took the suspect into custody, and the school was placed on lockdown, with all students and staff sheltering indoors.
Teacher Kyler Hood said he was first alerted by students in his classroom who’d been notified of a stabbing on their phones. “Soon enough, in a minute or two we were told … to pull all passer-by students into our classrooms and close all windows and doors,” he said.
Names and additional details were being withheld to protect student privacy, school Principal Fred Murphy said in a letter to parents and guardians, whom he urged to “monitor their child’s behavior and mood over the next few weeks” and notify the school “if you notice any changes or have any concerns.”
Shortly after the lockdown was lifted and students were released with police present at 11:30 a.m. Monday, two students recounted the fear and dread they felt in the initial shock and confusion of the violent outbreak.
“There was screaming, and me and my friends went to look, and the security guards were rushing up,” a 10th grader said as she waited to be picked up by a family member.
“I saw a girl laying on the floor, and there was blood, and people were wiping up the blood with what looked like bedsheets,” she recalled.
The scene was in front of the room where she was going to take her next class, the sophomore said, “and I was kinda scared. I was wondering what would have happened if I was already there (when the alleged attacks occurred).”
While she hadn’t witnessed the violence, she said she heard from other students that a boy had been stabbing a girl when her boyfriend tried to block him and the boyfriend was also stabbed; she didn’t know any of the students involved.
An 11th-grade boy, tears in his eyes, said that he witnessed part of the struggle and later realized he knew all three of the young people in the incident.
The girl who had been stabbed was his friend, he said, and he was worried for her and her boyfriend.
The junior recalled he heard screams and went over to where he saw “two kids, one’s holding a knife and one trying to get the knife away from him.”
Of the suspect, the 11th grader said, “I knew he was off, but didn’t think he would do something like that.”
On social media, members of the student body speculated that the motivation for the stabbings might have been a rejection the suspect received from the girl during the school’s carnival, which was held on the campus Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
A large, colorful carousel and other rides still stood on the campus in the Monday late-morning sun, visible from the parkway as crowds of released students left the school on foot and bicycles, heading home; other students were picked up by their parents, with police facilitation, at the parkway and school gymnasium.
Murphy said school would be open as usual for classes today. Additional counselors, police and security personnel from neighboring schools will be on campus today to support students, staff and students’ families.
“Trojan ohana, please lean on each other for support during this difficult time and do not hesitate to contact the school if further assistance is needed, 808-307-4200,” Murphy’s letter to parents said.
A standardized, pre-college test that had been scheduled for today will be held March 24 instead.
2000224 WEB Lockdown Letter by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Scribd
