HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — Police officers walked the grounds at Henrico High School one day after Crime Insider sources said a 16-year-old student stabbed another student so severely that the victim remains hospitalized in critical condition.
“It’s bothering me to see my child going through it,” said April Wright, whose son witnessed the stabbing Wednesday around 12:30 p.m.
Wright said he told her he saw an altercation in a breezeway outside and then saw one student stab the other.
“It bothered him," she said. "I feel like it bothered him more so emotionally because he doesn’t like to see people hurt."
Wright opted to keep her child home Thursday because he seemed so despondent.
“What he said to me this morning, the facial expression the body language, it was disturbing,” she recalled.
Wright said she wants to know what type of weapon the student used, how it got into the school and what caused it before she feels confident about sending her son back to school.
Police said they could not provide more specifics about the incident because it involves juveniles and is still under investigation.
Officers did say they took out petitions against a juvenile for aggravated malicious wounding and stabbing during the commission of a felony.
SCENE VIDEO: Student stabbed at Henrico High School
Liz Parker, the school system’s student support and wellness director, said Henrico High has a team of school counselors, social workers, and psychologists as well as therapy dogs and county mental health providers at the school to help students and staff.
“We will visit classrooms, students will come to us, we will send our therapy dogs to the classroom if teachers and students have requested them,” Parker said. “And we are out and about in hallways and cafeterias during lunch.”
While Wright said she is worried her son won’t accept the help, Parker had this advice for families.
“There is always one adult, one that students seem to have a relationship with, it might not be the parent,” Paker explained. “It might be a coach [or] someone else in the school building. I would definitely encourage families to include that caring adult into any conversations about student well-being if they feel that might be supportive.”
Parker recommends families contact the school guidance counselor if their child needs support and is open to it. They will set up an appointment with the school counselor or through a virtual counseling service.
Anyone with information about the incident was asked to contact Henrico Police at 804-501-5000. You can also submit tips anonymously via Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000 or by using P3Tips.com.
This is a developing story. Email tips or other information to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
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