On Wednesday afternoon a 16 year old male Great Mills High School student was stabbed multiple times by a fellow student at the school. Because of the ages of both the attacker and victim their names are not being released or reported.

Today St. Mary’s Detective Alioto spoke with The Bay Net about the incident. “It took place in a hallway situation,” said Alioto, of the stabbing. The High School Resource Officer was in the building at the time and responded immediately to the scene, where he called for back-up from patrol officers.

The stabbing, which left one student injured in the wrist and abdomen, occurred after an altercation between the same students earlier in the day. “There were ongoing issues,” commented Alioto. The weapon used by the 14 year old boy was a paring knife he had brought to school from home. Of the earlier altercation, Alioto said “Some say it was horse play, some say bullying, it was somewhere between.” He could not say if the stabbing was in direct self-defense, but it was in response to an earlier argument.

The 16 year old boy who was stabbed was treated at a local hospital and released a few hours later, Alioto told The Bay Net. When asked if there had been subsequent threats against the 14 year old attacker, Alioto said: “It’s children. There are an immense amount of stories and rumors circulating. Are we paying attention to them? Yes. Have we heard of death threats in particular? No.”

The investigation was turned over to the Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI). A date has not yet been set for the court case, but the teenage attacker has been detained on weapons charges and assault.

“Is [the school resource officer] at the school every second of every day? No. But it is his primary function, and he was at the school when the stabbing occurred,” Alioto told The Bay Net. 

Many questions have yet to be answered in the ongoing investigation and criminal case. One among them is likely to be whether this stabbing resulted from bullying, and whether it was, as the defense is arguing, self-defense, or if – in light of the knife brought from home – this was a premeditated assault.

To view the initial report from Wednesday click here. To see school officials’ and legislators’ responses click here.