St. Paul police responding to fatal stabbing inside Harding High School
A large police presence at Harding High School in St. Paul (KSTP).
(KSTP) – A 15-year-old student was fatally stabbed Friday morning inside Harding High School in St. Paul, and another student is in custody, officials said.
St. Paul Police Sgt. Mike Ernster said officers were called to the school on the city’s East Side at 11:46 a.m. on a report of a stabbing. Staff members gave the student first aid until medics could take him to Regions Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
A 16-year-old suspect was taken into custody, Ernster said. He added that investigators are still piecing together what led up to the attack.
A weapon was recovered at the scene, but Ernster did not say what type of implement was used to harm the student.
This was the city’s first homicide of 2023.
The school went into lockdown shortly after the incident, and all evening and weekend events at Harding High School were canceled, St. Paul Public Schools said.
Ernster said SPPD had a presence at schools across the city as “an extra layer to provide calm” in light of the stabbing.
A woman at the scene told an Hubbard affiliate 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS photojournalist that she received an email from the district saying students would be let out at 1:20 p.m. Friday.