HS stabbing caught on video: Male, 15, appears to use knife against fellow student, 16; adult walks past fight, appears to take photo

A 15-year-old student appeared to stab another student, 16, during a fight inside a Washington, D.C.-area high school Wednesday — and cellphone video of the fight caught an adult walking past the altercation while appearing to take a photo of it.

The fight started around 9:40 a.m. between three students at West Potomac High School in Fairfax County, authorities told WJLA-TV.

'Why would a teacher just stare and then walk off?'

Cellphone video shows a student wearing a red T-shirt repeatedly punching a student wearing a black T-shirt, who's curled up and lying on the floor by a wall in a hallway.

The video shows a third student with a dark backpack attempting to intervene, but the student wearing the red T-shirt begins punching him as well and backing him up to another wall.

With that, video shows the student wearing the black T-shirt getting up, approaching the student wearing the red T-shirt, and apparently using a knife to stab him.

A separate, blurred clip in the video shows what WTTG-TV described as a male on the ground "surrounded by a pool of blood." A separate still image as part of the overall video shows the student wearing the black T-shirt holding a knife.

The 16-year-old was rushed to the hospital with injuries described as life-threatening, WJLA said, but Fairfax County Police hours later said the severity of the student's injuries were downgraded to stable.

The 15-year-old suspect, a male, was taken into custody and is being charged with malicious wounding, WTTG said, adding that officials said the suspect and victim know each other.

The third student, also 15, wasn't hurt and is not expected to be charged, although he was questioned, reports stated.

The knife used in the stabbing was found, and an investigation is ongoing, police told WJLA.

What about the adult seen in the video?

In a separate story, WJLA-TV reported that cellphone video of the fight appeared to show an adult walking by during the altercation without intervening.

"There was a teacher there when they were fighting, but he just walked off,” a sophomore told the station. “Why would a teacher just stare and then walk off?”

What's more, the station said the adult appeared to snap a photo of the altercation before walking away. WJLA said it wasn't clear if the adult eventually went to get help.

"There was a kid on the floor getting beaten,” Shelly Arnoldi, whose daughter is a senior at the school, told the station. “I know he didn't know the severity, but it's impossible to imagine that's OK."

Michelle Reid, superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools, told WJLA in regard to the adult seen in the video that "it's never acceptable to walk by behavior that is dangerous. What I will say is this whole situation is currently under investigation. We'll be reviewing all the video, both the school video and law enforcement investigative details, and we'll take any appropriate actions as necessary.”

You can view a video report here about the stabbing and its aftermath.

Weapons detectors installed

A day after the stabbing, weapons detectors were installed at West Potomac High School, the station said.

WJLA said a pilot security program had been in place with several district schools being part of a gradual rollout, but officials said the stabbing accelerated the timeline for West Potomac.

The headline and first paragraph of this story have been updated.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!