A 16-year-old boy was flown to hospital Monday morning after being stabbed at Pigeon Lake Regional School.
RCMP said officers were called at 10:55 a.m.
Another 16-year-old boy — who was also a student — was arrested, RCMP said. The suspect remains in custody and charges are pending.
The victim was airlifted by STARS to the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton. According to STARS, the teenager sustained “a traumatic injury consistent with an edged weapon.” He was treated by the crew during the trip and arrived at the hospital in critical condition.
The school was locked down and it remained on lockdown as RCMP investigated the crime scene. Students were sent home and the lockdown was lifted later Monday afternoon. There will be no school on Tuesday.
“There is no danger to the students or public,” RCMP said.
Grade 10 student J.R. Good said the first thing they heard was a call for teachers with first aid training.
“Then later on you could hear the staff members that were currently on scene yelling… not yelling — screaming — in fear. Then the school called a lockdown.
“It’s shocking, yeah, because you don’t have a clue what’s happening outside those doors,” Good said.
Ryder Henschel is also a Grade 10 student at Pigeon Lake Regional School. His teacher is one that has medical training.
“They started calling down for teachers that are our medical teachers. They called them a couple times. They went, then the secretary, she called for a lockdown. She sounded very concerned for something that was happening.”
Henschel said when his teacher left, his class closed the door and huddled together in the corner of the classroom.
“I was pretty nervous to say the least. You don’t know what’s happening… It’s kind of scary.”
Grade 10 student Dakota Dargatz said the incident happened at around 10:45 a.m.
“We just decided ourselves to lock the door, turn the lights off and go into lockdown,” he said.
Then, they heard another announcement that there was a hold and secure in place.
“It was at this point we heard the police, they came to the site. About 10 minutes after that, we heard STARS come over… It brought to mind how injured the kid is,” Dargatz said.
Pigeon Lake Regional School is a public Grade 7-12 middle and high school about 80 kilometres south of Edmonton. It’s part of Wetaskiwin Regional Division No. 11.
Supt. Peter Barron said he’s been working in education for nearly four decades and this has shaken him.
“I’ve been in education 39 years and this is the first time this type of thing has happened. This is very unusual. It’s incredibly disturbing for staff and for students and for families.
“This is a horrific incident. It’s deeply troubling and certainly I would say that the community would have experienced trauma as a result of this.”
Barron said when he arrived at Pigeon Lake Regional School, the 16-year-old victim was being cared for by first responders.
“I want to express our deep gratitude to our staff whose quick reaction to provide first aid and other supports from first responders and STARS helped to save this young man’s life.
“The victim was subsequently airlifted by STARS to Edmonton to a hospital. I understand he’s had surgery and he’s in stable condition.”
He said both the victim and the suspect are Grade 11 students. It’s his understanding the stabbing took place in the library and “there were witnesses.”
Barron said the division is arranging for counselling for when the school reopens.
“We’ve reached out and connected with Kevin Cameron, who’s known internationally for working with situations of trauma and he’s providing some guidance to us. We’re also arranging for a meeting with Pigeon Lake parents in the next couple of days, we don’t have details on that just yet.
“And of course we’re thinking and praying for the student and for both families who are impacted by this incident,” Baron said.