High schooler stabs classmate when fight erupts near cafeteria, Georgia principal says
One student faces criminal charges after stabbing a classmate when a fight broke out in a Gwinnett County high school in Georgia.
According to a message from Duluth High School principal Eric Davidson on Facebook, two students started to fight outside the cafeteria on the morning of Jan. 12, leading to one student pulling a knife and stabbing the other. School resource officers broke up the fight and Davidson said “neither student sustained a serious injury.”
Davidson said the students involved will face “appropriate disciplinary consequences,” including criminal charges against the student who used the knife, though charges weren’t announced in the Facebook post.
In addition, all students “even marginally connected to the incident” were suspended, Davidson said.
The students have not been identified.
“Unfortunately, young people sometimes make impulsive decisions without considering the lasting potential consequences of those actions,” Davidson wrote. “We will continue to work alongside (parents and guardians) to help our young people understand the value of maintaining positive relationships and utilizing the wonderful staff that we have here to help them work through any challenges and concerns they have.”
In a follow-up message, Davidson told parents and guardians of Duluth High School students that there were rumors of an ongoing threat to the school, mainly perpetrated by social media posts that were circulating among students.
He said he discussed those rumors with students and staff in the afternoon following the stabbing and after looking into the rumors, the school found no evidence that there was an ongoing threat.
“No actual threat to the school was discovered,” Davidson said. “In fact, every student even marginally connected to the incident this morning is suspended from school and therefore will not be at school.”
WSB-TV reports that this stabbing builds on an ongoing trend of violence in Gwinnett County Schools, following two shootings in late October and a teacher that was attacked by a student in November.
This story was originally published January 13, 2023 at 9:19 AM with the headline "High schooler stabs classmate when fight erupts near cafeteria, Georgia principal says."
