Student Booked on Five Assault Counts After Stabbing Injures Six at Tacoma's Foss High School

A student at Foss High School in Tacoma, Washington, was taken into custody Thursday afternoon after a stabbing left five fellow students and a security guard injured, according to police. Tacoma police spokesperson Shelbie Boyd said the suspect was booked on five counts of first-degree assault following what authorities described as an altercation on campus. All six people injured in the attack were later reported in stable condition, with injuries described as non-life-threatening.

The Details

Emergency responders were dispatched to Foss High School at approximately 1:35 p.m. local time Thursday after reports of an active assault, according to BBC News. Three minutes later, at 1:38 p.m., Tacoma Public Schools placed the campus in lockdown, the district confirmed via KOMO News.

First responders arrived to find multiple people injured in what the Tacoma Police Department described as an altercation. The Tacoma Fire Department initially reported that four students were in critical condition, but that assessment was revised in subsequent updates. By late afternoon, authorities confirmed all six patients — five students and one adult security guard — were in stable condition, NBC News reported. KOMO News described the injuries as non-life-threatening.

Tacoma police identified and detained the suspect, also a Foss High School student, at the scene. Boyd told reporters that officers moved quickly once they arrived. "We were here quickly, we were able to locate the individual, and everything was secured pretty quickly," she said, according to KOMO News. The suspect was subsequently booked on five counts of first-degree assault, Boyd confirmed, as reported by BBC News.

Students were safely dismissed at 2:45 p.m. following a roughly one-hour lockdown, according to the Tacoma Public Schools statement via KOMO News. The district did not identify the suspect and said the cause of the altercation remains under investigation. "This incident is still under investigation, and discipline has not yet been determined," Tacoma Public Schools said in its statement.

By approximately 4 p.m., authorities said all six patients had been stabilized, BBC News reported. The Tacoma Police Department said the investigation is ongoing. Authorities have not publicly explained what triggered the altercation, and the suspect has not been publicly identified in sourced reporting.

Context

Foss High School, part of the Tacoma Public Schools district in Tacoma, Washington, has faced serious campus violence before. BBC News noted the school was the site of a 2007 fatal shooting in which 17-year-old Samnang Kok was killed.

Friday classes and all after-school activities at Foss High School were canceled following Thursday's stabbing, according to Tacoma Public Schools via KOMO News. The district said counselors and additional administrative staff will be on site when the school reopens Monday, May 4.

What's Next

The Tacoma Police Department's investigation into the stabbing remains open, and the cause of the altercation has not been publicly established. The suspect, detained at the scene, has been booked on five counts of first-degree assault, according to Tacoma police spokesperson Shelbie Boyd via BBC News.

Tacoma Public Schools said discipline has not yet been determined and that the matter is still under investigation. Counselors and administrative staff will be available when classes resume Monday, May 4, the district confirmed via KOMO News.