Student stabbed at Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn; Teenager in custody
NEW YORK -- A 15-year-old is now in custody after a student was stabbed at Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn on Tuesday, police sources told CBS New York.
Police responded to the school in Midwood at around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday and found a 15-year-old boy with a stab wound to his stomach. They said he was attacked by another teen during a fight in a hallway.
The boy who was stabbed was rushed to Maimonides Medical Center. His injuries were not considered life-threatening.
The teen accused of stabbing the boy ran from the campus after the attack, police said. Charges were pending against him.
"I don't feel safe. I feel like my life is in danger," one student said.
"They were on the third floor and they got out of the building. They ran. There's security by the front door, and they were able to run out," sophomore Owen Matthews said.
Anxious parents rushed to the school after receiving calls and texts from their panicked children saying someone was stabbed and they were in a lockdown Tuesday morning.
Some were irate after learning about the stabbing from their kids hours before the school sent any kind of notification.
"I'm going to talk to the school because they stressed that security was tight and you can't even go out for lunch. So how are people getting in here unknown or that is in here with a weapon?" said Yolanda Washington.
"Police in school has to present in large amounts. Not just security, but police, who is knowledgeable, who knows what to do," another mother said.
According to the Department of Education, Murrow High School is a non-scanning school, meaning it does not have metal detectors.
"The safety and wellbeing of our students is our absolute top priority. Following an incident in the school, NYPD School Safety immediately responded, and NYPD and EMS are on site. The building was placed on a brief lockdown which has now been lifted," the department said in a statement shortly before noon.
Watch Christina Fan's report
More than a dozen school safety officers arrived in the area in the aftermath, but parents said that show of force came too late.
Students said officers went checking for weapons floor-by-floor after the stabbing. Dismissal was delayed by nearly 40 minutes because students had to go through metal detectors before leaving campus.
"They not only just found a stun gun, but they found knives and other weapons," Mona Davids said.
"If you did the preventative stuff prior to, then they wouldn't be this situation. Right now it just feels like everything is kind of for show," said Marvin Vilme.
"This perpetrator got from the third floor to the first floor and out of the building. Where was all the security then?" said Danielle Pacific. "It's frustrating and mind-boggling that something like this can happen and there's no notification immediately."
The president of the school safety agents union said administrators were warned earlier this year that kids were bringing weapons to class, but the school ignored parents' concerns.
"She begged them, the school, to put in metal detectors and those pleas fell on deaf ears. So it's not surprising that a child was stabbed," said Greg Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237.
"I've been talking about it for three years, that these things are going to happen," parent Quiann Simpkins said.
Simpkins told CBS New York's Alecia Reid she's not surprised violence erupted inside the school.
"There was a bunch of fights. Gang fights have been going on. They're finding weapons whenever they have unannounced random scanning because they don't have full0time scanning there," Simpkins said.
Just last month, at the New York City School Safety Coalition Town Hall, in front of city leaders, she voiced concern.
There are mixed views on installing permanent metal detectors on school grounds.
"I'm saying yes to anything that's going to keep our children safe. ... And to those who say nay, you say nay now because you feel that it looks unfavorable but what happens when it's your child that's at the end of a knife," Simpkins said.
"We're continuously looking at ways of having non-intrusive scanners because, you know, we have a balance of protecting our children without damaging that they're feeling as though we're turning into some form of jail-type atmosphere," Mayor Eric Adams said.
There is a shortage of school safety officers, and Adams recently reinstated this year's class in the budget.
We're told scanners will be at the school Wednesday, but that's not enough for some families; a number of students we spoke to plan on staying home.
Police did not release the name of the teen in custody.
