Teen arrested in Buffalo school stabbbing; 3rd victim comes forward

Jim Tortora

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BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Authorities on Friday said a 13-year-old student was struck by gunfire during a dispute outside of a Buffalo high school earlier this week when another teen was stabbed 10 times and a security guard shot.

Police only learned about the third victim when he sought medical attention for a graze wound to his arm Thursday, a day after the chaotic fight involving a crowd of people at McKinley High School, Deputy Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said during a news conference.

A 17-year-old male was charged Friday with attempted murder and assault in connection with the incident. Investigators were searching for other suspects, including a person recorded on video pointing a gun, Gramaglia said.

“We need to sit down with that 13-year-old and his parents and find out what he knows and what he saw,” Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said as he released new details of the fight, which he said began as a dispute among groups of students earlier in the day and rolled over into the parking lot after school.

“There were probably 15 to 25 students who were in the parking lot when the fight started,” Flynn said.

A security guard was rushing to break up the fight when he was struck in the leg by gunfire, the prosecutor said. He was released from the hospital the same day.

Investigators believe several people were involved in attacking the 14-year-old victim, who was stabbed nine times in the chest and abdomen, once in the leg and also beaten.

“We also believe there was a separate individual who fired the shots that struck the security guard in the leg and grazed a student in the arm,” Flynn said.

First responders initially believed the 14-year-old had been shot but surgeons determined that was not the case, city officials said. He was hospitalized in stable condition.

The 17-year-old suspect was arraigned as an adolescent offender shortly after midnight. His name was not released and authorities did not immediately say whether he was a student. He was being held pending a bail hearing scheduled for Monday.

Mayor Byron Brown said the COVID-19 pandemic and a proliferation of illegal weapons had contributed to increasing violence among young people and called Wednesday’s fight “a terrifying experience.”

“People are angry, people are frustrated,” Brown said. “People are fearful, and in particular I think our young people have been impacted.”