CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- Three students are now facing charges in the stabbing of another student at Meadowbrook High School, Chesterfield Police announced Wednesday.
"At about 12:18 p.m. on Oct. 1, school administrators reported that a fight was occurring in a hallway at the school. The school resource officer responded to the hallway and learned a 17-year-old male student had been stabbed during the fight. Rescue personnel and additional police resources immediately responded to the scene," Chesterfield Police wrote in a statement. "The suspect student, a 14-year-old male, was located inside the school and detained without incident. Through investigation, police learned two male students, both age 15, had helped the suspect conceal the knife after the stabbing. The knife was located by police inside the school."
The stabbing victim is still hospitalized with serious injuries but is in stable condition. Police say the victim and the 14-year-old suspect both know each other.
The 14-year-old suspect is being charged with assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a weapon on school property. He was arrested following the stabbing and taken to the Chesterfield Juvenile Detention Home.
The 15-year-old suspects were also charged with possession of a weapon on school property as well as conspiracy after the fact.
The Meadowbrook High School stabbing and a threat that shut down Tomahawk Creek Middle School Tuesday are both prompting calls from parents for the district to make changes to its current security measures.
"Our kids should be able to be safe, to go to school, and to come home," said a parent named J.B., who was picking up his son from Meadowdale Library Tuesday after the stabbing caused the school to shut down early.
"I do feel secure and safe, and that's even worse, that you have to have the police come out and make you feel secure and safe," he said.
Chesterfield County Public Schools, the largest Central Virginia school district serving roughly 64,000 students, does not currently employ metal detectors, weapons detection systems, or a clear backpack policy in any of its schools.
After Tuesday's events, some people turned to social media to share differing opinions on what the district should do next.
Melissa Hankins commented: "They don't need metal detectors. What they need to do is deal with all of this bullying that's going on in the schools."
Others, including Jennifer Harlowe, said metal detectors are needed throughout the district.
Just after Tuesday afternoon's stabbing incident, CCPS Interim Superintendent John Murray told reporters the district is weighing its options.
"We began the process a few weeks back of evaluating the appropriateness, the fiscal reasonability, as well as the logistics of being able to install weapons detection at our schools," Murray said. "We've observed at one site, last week, leadership did, and we have another site visit in another neighboring county planned for this Friday."
The district plans to spend about $42 million on more School Security Officers (SSOs) as part of its FY25 budget. It's also in the process of finishing its three-year, $300 million vestibule project.
"Vestibules" are equated to small lobby-like areas that the district says will add another layer of protection.
"We're enclosing school entrances with lockable vestibules to create safe and secure entrances at each of our facilities where these don't exist presently," said Scott Carson, CCPS's Director of Construction in this YouTube video.
"Our families, our faculty, our staff, our administration, and the board importantly, all value having more secure and safer schools across the district, so overwhelmingly, it's the right thing to do," Carson said.
CBS 6 spoke with Cliff Lent, a security consultant, about the effectiveness of metal detectors, weapons detection systems, and other security measures last month when Chesterfield, and several other districts across the commonwealth, were targets of social media threats.
"Schools are not fortresses," Lent said. "They're not federal prisons. They're not federal buildings."
When it comes to more districts choosing to use security technology, Lent says there's much to consider.
"The question is, is it a viable option? Is it realistically going to keep weapons out of schools? And that's up for debate," Lent said. "I don't recommend any school uses a metal detector unless you have an armed guard, preferably a police officer, at the screening site. Because it begs the question of what you will do when you do detect a gun if you're not trained on how to secure it, retrieve it, etc., store it, all of those things that come into play if an alarm is indicated and there's actually a firearm. What are we going to do with them?"
Chesterfield Public Schools did provide counseling services for students on Wednesday while school was not in session. A spokesperson told CBS6 the district will continue to provide support.
All schools in the district will be closed on Thursday, October 3, for a planned holiday.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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