Gwinnett County

Middle school student in custody after stabbing teacher, police say

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Channel 2 Action News confirmed that a middle school student was taken into custody after stabbing a teacher with an 8-inch butcher knife Monday afternoon at Trickum Middle School.

Police said the victim is a woman and she was taken to an area hospital.

Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Tony Thomas reported the school was on lockdown, but the lockdown has been lifted.

Channel 2's Aaron Diamant spoke with a student who helped stop the bleeding. Mason Watler described how he helped save the teacher's life.

The incident happened inside a language arts classroom.

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"I saw that she was bleeding, so I looked over and took off my jacket and put it where she was bleeding," Watler said.

Watler said the 13-year-old suspect then turned on another student.

"He pulled over another student and had the knife by her face. He said that if anybody was videoing it, he was gonna kill her," Watler said.

Watler told Diamant he helped distract the suspect to save lives.

"I was telling everybody, 'Get out of the classroom. Go get a teacher,'" Watler said.

A student resource officer eventually took the student into custody.

Watler said the suspect told him in the past that he wanted to kill someone.

"I probably should have reported what he said so he would be able to talk to a counselor or something," Watler said.

Principal Ryan Queen sent the following statement to parents:

I need to share with you a serious incident that occurred at school this afternoon. A student has been taken into custody after stabbing one of our teachers during a class. This occurred in an 8th grade language arts classroom. The student was immediately apprehended and all other students are safe. The teacher has been transported to an area hospital, but was conscious and talking to first responders. Again, all students and teachers are safe. We anticipate dismissing as usual. I will communicate more as additional information becomes available.