BUFFALO, N.Y. — The public is now hearing about additional details connected to Wednesday's incident at McKinley High School.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, Buffalo Police and Erie County District Attorney John Flynn all spoke, not only about what happened at the school, but about the increase in youth crime at a late Friday morning news conference.
Police took a 17-year-old into custody Thursday night. The teen, who Flynn says is a McKinley student, was charged with attempted murder and assault. He was arraigned in the Youth Part of Buffalo City Court and is due to appear back there on Monday.
Flynn revealed the 14-year-old attacked was stabbed 10 times and continues to recover at Oishei Children's Hospital. Besides the teen victim and the security guard that was shot, it was revealed that a third person, a 13-year-old student, was grazed by a bullet, but did not report it or seek treatment.
The district attorney also said there have been 16 incidents requiring police response at the Elmwood Avenue high school since the school year began; six that included actual fights.
“I am deeply disturbed by the violence that has occurred at McKinley High School. This schoolyard fight escalated into attempted murder when this boy was stabbed multiple times allegedly by this student. We will be aggressively prosecuting this case in Youth Part. I hope that this horrific event and the arrest of this student sends a strong message to all of the young people in our community that there are serious consequences to engaging in violent, criminal behavior. We will not tolerate violence in our schools. I want to thank the members of the Buffalo Police Department who have been working this case non-stop since yesterday afternoon as well as all of the other agencies who assisted in this investigation,” said Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn.
Mayor Brown wanted to stress that what happened this week is not an indictment of the entire school; that there are many students, teachers and staff working hard there every day to do good things.
At the news conference, officials said tensions had been building during the day before the fight broke out around 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Deputy Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said video image of the alleged gunman will be released through Crime Stoppers.