Three people were stabbed inside a classroom at Black Hawk Middle School in Warrenton, Mo., on Thursday morning, and police said a juvenile male student is in custody. The Warrenton Police Department said the student used a 4-5 inch blade in the attack, which happened around 7:55 a.m.
The stabbing sent one student by air to a St. Louis children’s hospital and sent a teacher to the hospital by ambulance. The Warren County Ambulance District said both were in serious condition, while police said a second student had superficial wounds.
For parents searching for what changed on a school morning that should have been routine, the answer was a sudden assault in a classroom and a rapid response that pulled officers, medics and district officials into the building. Police said there were no threats before the incident, which only deepened the shock of a scene that, by its nature, should have had no warning.
By 10:41 a.m., all classrooms had been cleared, and the school district said all schools would dismiss at 12:41 p.m. Black Hawk Middle School sports were also canceled. Police said there was no threat to the public, and the suspect remained in custody as officials worked to get students back to their parents.
The unanswered question is why the juvenile student attacked two students and a teacher. Warren County R-III requested Behavior Threat Assessment and Management Training last spring, but it was not clear Thursday whether that training had been completed or was still being arranged by the state. That gap sits beside the facts of the morning: a school stabbing, no prior threats, and three injured people now left to recover.
