Washington school student arrested after stabbing girl during altercation in washroom

Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.

SPOKANE, WASHINGTON: Four female students of Washington's Shadle Park High School were involved in a fight in the school bathroom.

The fight escalated to a stabbing, with one student being sent to the hospital with serious injuries and another with minor injuries, as per KHQ.

What happened at Shadle Park High School? 

A Shadle Park High School student was hospitalized after she was stabbed on Thursday, February 1, morning by another girl in the school bathroom.

The student suffered serious injuries but she was in stable condition at the time she was sent to the hospital, according to the Spokesman. 

The altercation in the restroom involved four students. A second girl was injured but was not taken to a hospital. The motive or reason for what spurred the violence or the relationship between the four is still not known.

Spokane Police spokeswoman Julie Humphreys said one student was arrested on suspicion of first-degree assault and booked into the Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center. The name of the accused girl was not released because she is a minor.

The incident occurred at about 8.30 am, after the morning bell rang.

Within minutes after the stabbing, two unarmed safety professionals and a school nurse arrived, according to Sandra Jarrard, a district spokesperson for the school district.

While the school administration summoned Spokane Police, who Humphreys claimed also responded in less than a minute, the nurse began providing first aid.

The incident was isolated, Jarrard said, spurring a “secure and teach” protocol, in which teachers lock their doors and continue teaching. Before noon, the “secure and teach” status was lifted and school operations returned to normal.

'It’s not what you want to happen in your school bathroom'

Megan Henson, a grade 11 student, said she felt unsafe when she first heard about the stabbing while being in class. She said, "It’s not exactly what you want to happen in your school bathroom."

Freshman Ty Fagnant said the school administration’s reaction to the fight added a feeling of security. "The school had it under control pretty fast,” Fagnant said.

Concerns about school toilet safety have grown. Students reported that vaping is almost always present and that this has caused some to completely stop using school facilities.

Craig Meidl, former Spokane Police Chief, informed summer interns from Spokesman-Review that there was a common complaint about students smoking in school restrooms.

"In fact, I’m hearing some schools, kids won’t even go to bathrooms,” Meidl said. “They’re worried about being assaulted, they’re worried about the drugs, the vaping, they’re worried about all these things.”

Meidl said his department doesn’t have the capacity to respond to a student vaping in a bathroom.

Rather, he claimed to have discussed with schools the idea of assigning teachers to watch over restrooms during school breaks. In a measure establishing a grant program for the purchase and installation of vape detectors, the Washington Legislature is considering funding the devices.

Problems are resolved by campus safety specialists, but according to Meidl, there are occasions when they have to wait 30 minutes for a commissioned police officer to arrive at the school in response to a criminal complaint since the officer may be occupied with a higher priority call.