MURRYSVILLE, PA – More senseless violence against our children and we still don’t really know why.
“He just ran down the hall with the knives,” recalls High School student Gracey Evans. “My best friend stepped in front of me and he got stabbed in the back”.
With a knife in each hand, 16-year-old Alex Hribal went on a stabbing rampage at Franklin Regional Senior High School in Murrysville, Pennsylvania. 20 students and a security officer were injured before the attacker was tackled by the Assistant Principal. Four kids remain hospitalized in critical condition.
“What was going through my mind?” remembers student Brett Hurst. “Will I survive or will I die.”
Hribal was arraigned as an adult and faces four counts of attempted homicide, 21 counts of aggravated assault and one count of possession of a weapon on school grounds. His class mates described him as a shy boy. His family, sadly, didn’t see this coming. What pushes a young child over the brink to this sort of violence?
“Often times it’s a child who has seen violence as a way to solve problems, either in the home or among their peers,” explained clinical psychologist Dr. Peter Cousins.
Anything can be a weapon in the hands of an alienated mind. But one thing is for sure: we must find a way to stop this madness.
