2 students stabbed, 2 injured following brawl at Van Nuys High School

A Wednesday afternoon brawl involving 11 boys at Van Nuys High School left two students stabbed and two others injured, leading to a campus lockdown.

At 11:53 a.m. the Los Angeles Police Department responded to a call of two to three students stabbed at the Van Nuys campus quad. 

Initial reports were that three victims were possibly stabbed, and one was in critical condition. During an afternoon press conference, it was clarified that two students were stabbed and both were transported to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.

Alberto M. Carvalho, Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent said to reporters during the press conference around 12:45 p.m., that while the school is still under lockdown, there is no imminent threat, the school is calm and the students are in their classrooms receiving normal instruction.

One mother who rushed over to the school after hearing about the incident said her son was jumped on campus by 10 individuals. She said her son wasn't stabbed, but he was injured after getting kicked in the head.

It has not yet been determined exactly what weapon was used in the stabbings, but Superintendent Carvalho said three students have been detained and are being questioned by law enforcement. 

"One student produced an 'unidentified weapon' at this point, and stabbed two students, who have been transported to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, at this point," Carvalho said. 

The superintendent said that three students were transported to the hospital and a fourth was treated at the school with minor injuries.

"As of today, Van Nuys will have the presence of an officer within its school facilities," Carvalho said as Wednesday's incident highlights the lack of police security at schools. Carvalho said the district does need to revisit the existing campus police policy.

"We do not have currently, nor have we ever had in the history of LAUSD enough officers to staff all schools. So that is a proposition that is just not realistic. There are some states, some districts where that is the policy. It's not the case in Los Angeles. I say that because we should not create an expectation that cannot be fulfilled," Carvalho said.   

Gil Gamez, the president of the L.A. School Police Union said that the department needs to double in size to have an officer at every campus. Currently, the department has 50 vacant positions. 

"This violence was foreseeable and preventable," said Gamez. "Everyone knew that but they were caught up in anti-police and I understand that. But, we're past that now and we have to refund our department."