A 15 year old male was arraigned in Erie County Family Court on one count of Assault in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony and one count of Unlawful Possession of Weapons by Persons Under Sixteen, Acting Erie County District Attorney Michael Keane announced Tuesday.
The arraignment follows Monday's incident at McKinley High School where a 15 year old male was stabbed three times
The student is expected to survive after being taken to Oishei Children’s Hospital where they were listed in serious but stable condition.
Monday marked the third day of the new school year for Buffalo Public School students. City of Buffalo Police Officers responded to a call just after 1 p.m. The student was stabbed three times, once in the neck, once in the arm and once in the back during the altercation which took place in the school stairwell. Two people have been taken into custody. The attack triggered a shelter in place at the school.
During a Monday press conference, Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said the attack was not a random occurrence and that a similar attack had taken place at Fountain Plaza in July with the same victim and assailants.
Neither victim or assailants have been identified.
Buffalo Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Tonja Williams-Knight expressed relief that the student will survive and credited school cameras and law enforcement for its response.
"We've done some things at McKinley," she said. "Just as an infrastructure of supports in that we have additional security at the school. We partner with folks that are outside of the school. As you heard, the cameras were crystal clear and were very helpful in helping the police to be able to respond to it."
But the question remains as to how a student was able to get a knife through McKinley's weapons detectors?
"We are still investigating how this particular knife got in," Gramaglia said. "Just because we made an arrest, it doesn't mean that the investigation is over. There's going to be a lot to determine on how this knife got into the school."
Williams-Knight said crises teams will be available for students Tuesday.
The alleged assailant is scheduled to return to court September 25th.
