The fatal stabbing at Southeast Raleigh High School was preceded by weeks of escalating tensions and warnings, the parent of the alleged stabber says.
The fatal stabbing at Southeast Raleigh High School in Raleigh, NC, on Nov. 27 was preceded by weeks of escalating tensions and warnings, according to Cherelle McLaughlin, the mother of the 14-year-old student now charged with murder.
McLaughlin said she had alerted school officials about potential threats to her son’s safety just before two teenagers were wounded in the fight. The 15-year-old who died and a 16-year-old who remains hospitalized with what Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson called non-life threatening injuries, according to The News & Observer.
The conflict originated from an altercation involving McLaughlin’s older daughter and another female student at the high school several weeks ago. The dispute snowballed, involving multiple juveniles, and culminated in the fatal fight.
McLaughlin said more than a dozen kids, many of whom were later involved in the fatal fight, visited her house last week, where they assaulted McLaughlin and her mother.
Concerned for her son’s safety, McLaughlin informed the school’s case worker on the morning of Nov. 27, that she feared he might be attacked for defending his sister.
“My son was fighting for his life. They were threatening to jump on him. I warned the school that morning right before I dropped him off,” she told The News & Observer.
According to the newspaper, “The Raleigh police officer assigned as the school resource officer at Southeast Raleigh High responded at 11:01 a.m. Monday to a report that a juvenile was stabbed during an altercation involving other students. Video clips posted on social media by multiple students appear to show a fight spilling over from a hallway into the gymnasium, where a knife is visible.”
Raleigh police obtained a secure custody order for the 14-year-old, charging him with murder on a juvenile petition. The identities of the victims and the suspect have not been officially released, but McLaughlin identified her son as the charged 14-year-old.
Raleigh police spokesman Lt. Jason Borneo said the ongoing investigation may include examining relationships between the juveniles involved and their families.
The stabbing prompted a Code Red lockdown on Monday and the cancellation of classes on Nov. 28.
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