A student from another school was stabbed Thursday afternoon at Franklin High School in Highland Park during a preseason football game, district sources familiar with the investigation told the LA Times.
The student's injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. No arrests have been made.
The detailed account of the incident relies substantially on sources with knowledge of what happened who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak on behalf of the district.
The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed Friday that it was alerted to the stabbing and turned the investigation over to the Los Angeles Schools Police Department.
While the district did not comment on the accounts provided by the sources, the district acknowledged to The Times that an incident had occurred in Franklin.
Two alerts were sent to Franklin High parents and staff.
On Thursday evening, a message from the Franklin principal, provided to the Times by the district, read: “I am calling to notify you of a recent altercation that occurred this afternoon. Four unknown assailants were involved in an altercation with individuals who were not students during a Franklin High School football practice game. Police and school administration are investigating the incident.”
An updated message Friday morning read: “I am calling to provide an update following yesterday’s altercation at a football game at Franklin High School. We recently learned that one of the individuals involved, a student from another school, was injured during the altercation. The student received medical attention.”
According to sources, the stabbing occurred shortly after school, outside the Franklin campus gymnasium. There were no school police officers or officers from other agencies assigned to the game, sources said.
One or more juveniles entered the Franklin campus, apparently targeting one or more students.
A fight broke out and a Franklin administrator immediately spotted it and rushed to intervene. The youth involved in the attack fled the campus and escaped. The stabbing victim did not report the injury and the administrator knew nothing about it, but he reported the fight internally, as required, and school police units were dispatched to Franklin.
The scrimmage was held with a Roosevelt High team, according to the district, though some sources identified the stabbing victim as being from a school other than Franklin or Roosevelt.
The stabbing victim, an 11th-grade boy, left campus without interacting with authorities and was taken to a hospital emergency room by his family. Hospital staff alerted the Los Angeles Police Department, which in turn contacted the Los Angeles School Police, which handled the investigation at the scene.
Los Angeles Police Department Detective Meghan Aguilar confirmed that a local hospital contacted the department regarding a young man who had been stabbed Thursday afternoon at Franklin High. If the injuries had been life-threatening, the LAPD likely would have remained involved in the investigation, Aguilar said.
Additional security was deployed at Franklin High on Friday.
