A 15-year-old student of Charles P. Allen High School near Halifax is facing two counts of attempted murder after two staff members were stabbed on Monday morning.
Halifax Regional Police initially received a weapons complaint around 9:20 a.m. at the Bedford, N.S. high school, and found three people suffering from stab wounds. They arrested a youth, who they said was a student at the school.
The Halifax Regional Centre for Education later confirmed two staff members were among those injured, and described the situation as traumatic.
In the Tuesday release, police said the two employees of the school are in hospital in serious but stable condition, while the youth accused was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening stab wounds.
The 15-year-old is facing 10 charges, including two counts of attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons-related charges.
At 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday, HRP will hold a media availability on the violent incident. The event will be livestreamed on this page.
Classes cancelled Tuesday
The Halifax-area high school is now cancelling classes for the rest of the day.
The acting director of the Halifax Regional Centre for Education notified members of Charles P. Allen High School just after 11 a.m. that though it initially opened for classes, the centre’s Crisis Team recommended to cancel classes for the day.
“The school will be open and supports are available for any student who wishes to talk,” read the notice. It also added busses will continue running at the regular time this afternoon.
Ryan Lutes, president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union said this incident was a “shock to the system” in a Tuesday interview.
Lutes said he supports HRCE’s response in cancelling classes but keeping schools open.
“That tells me that that officials are doing what they feel is right… and they’re doing everything they can to support the staff and students and community members,” he said.
He also said the teachers worked hard to ensure that all students and staff were safe after the violent incident.
“My heart goes out to them, and I commend them on their great work.”
Lutes said teachers have reported an increased level of violence in the past few years, and the NSTU wants the Nova Scotia government to conduct a review into violence in schools.
“As a dad, as a parent and as a teacher, when parents send kids to school and when teachers go to school, there’s a sacred bond that says they’re going to get home safely… and unfortunately, that bond was broken. you know, that didn’t happen yesterday at C.P. Allen,” he said.
“I think it’s incumbent upon all stakeholders in the system to put our heads together and look at ways that we can make our school safer.”
Lutes added he hopes the community in Bedford is able to heal from this incident.
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