VAN BUREN, Ark. -
A Van Buren High School student is out of a local hospital, after police say he was stabbed during a fight at the school cafeteria. A second student was arrested in suspicion of second-degree battery.
Lieutenant Brent Grill with the Van Buren Police Department during lunch, a 16-year-old boy apparently attacked another boy the same age; during the fight, Grill says the attacker used a knife or other sharp object to stab the other student several times in the shoulder. A nearby resource officer and other faculty broke up the fight and alerted police, who took the attacker into custody.
But Grill says what's frustrating about the case is that the weapon used has yet to be recovered.
"It is possible this student was seen with the knife prior to the fight," said Grill, "But the immediate area was searched, the student was searched, and we believe this item we are looking for could have been picked up by another student."
The boy police believe started the fight was taken to Summit Medical Center at the request of his parents to have a head injury checked out. The other student was also taken to Summit with "serious, but not life-threatening" puncture wounds to his left shoulder.
Dr. Merle Dickerson, Van Buren's superintendent, said Wednesday that they have taken steps to make sure students aren't carrying weapons, and he feels the school remains a safe place.
"We do confiscate occasionally a pocketknife that we see, but we don't search kids every day, we don't have metal detectors at every door because... it's a safe environment," he said.
Administrators are already planning how they're going to respond to Wednesday's stabbing, and Dr. Dickerson says that begins by talking to the students involved.
"At this point we are making plans for counseling and other support services for both the kids that were involved in the altercation, and for our other kids and staff who are at the site."
Police said they have interviewed more than a dozen students, with more possibile witnesses coming up with every interview. They say they've narrowed their list down to a few students they need to interview or re-interview, so it could take some time before they finally discover what started the fight.
Lieutenant Brent Grill with the Van Buren Police Department during lunch, a 16-year-old boy apparently attacked another boy the same age; during the fight, Grill says the attacker used a knife or other sharp object to stab the other student several times in the shoulder. A nearby resource officer and other faculty broke up the fight and alerted police, who took the attacker into custody.
But Grill says what's frustrating about the case is that the weapon used has yet to be recovered.
"It is possible this student was seen with the knife prior to the fight," said Grill, "But the immediate area was searched, the student was searched, and we believe this item we are looking for could have been picked up by another student."
The boy police believe started the fight was taken to Summit Medical Center at the request of his parents to have a head injury checked out. The other student was also taken to Summit with "serious, but not life-threatening" puncture wounds to his left shoulder.
Dr. Merle Dickerson, Van Buren's superintendent, said Wednesday that they have taken steps to make sure students aren't carrying weapons, and he feels the school remains a safe place.
"We do confiscate occasionally a pocketknife that we see, but we don't search kids every day, we don't have metal detectors at every door because... it's a safe environment," he said.
Administrators are already planning how they're going to respond to Wednesday's stabbing, and Dr. Dickerson says that begins by talking to the students involved.
"At this point we are making plans for counseling and other support services for both the kids that were involved in the altercation, and for our other kids and staff who are at the site."
Police said they have interviewed more than a dozen students, with more possibile witnesses coming up with every interview. They say they've narrowed their list down to a few students they need to interview or re-interview, so it could take some time before they finally discover what started the fight.
