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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Police and school officials in Oklahoma said Friday that a 14-year-old boy accused of repeatedly stabbing a female classmate during a school assembly had no history of causing trouble before bringing a pocket knife a 4-inch blade onto campus.
Luther Public Schools Superintendent Barry Gunn declined to discuss the boy further, citing federal privacy laws.
State law does not appear to address knives on campus, but Gunn said a blade that size to school is against the rules.
"It would be against school policy to have a weapon on campus and a knife larger than 2-inches is described as a weapon," Gunn said.
The boy is being held in juvenile custody on an arrest warrant for assault and battery with a deadly weapon, Luther Police Chief David Randall said.
Interviews with students and staff have revealed that the boy and girl, who is also 14, were acquainted, Randall said. But he declined to say whether the girl was a random victim or a target of the Thursday knife attack at the school in a town of about 1,200 people about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of Oklahoma City.
"That's what I'm trying to nail down right now," Randall said. "Going through the statements I see a trend on something ... that would give me a motive."
Randall said that until the investigation is complete, he does not know what potential charges he would recommend to the district attorney's office.
The school has no security system in place, Randall said.
"They didn't have metal detectors or a school resource officer," Randall said. "I don't think a resource officer could have stopped this, but having a presence might make them think twice before acting out."
Randall says the boy "blurted out some statements that made no sense" after he was taken into custody Thursday, and that he showed no remorse.
The district school board earlier in the week approved a plan to allow staff members on campus to carry concealed weapons, but none were armed during the attack as the policy, which requires training and approval by the superintendent, has not been implemented.
Classes resumed Friday morning with Randall on campus. He said all were trying to make sense of what had happened.
Gunn said the attack was shocking, but not necessarily surprising.
"In today's day and time, it happens in movie theaters it happens in restaurants, churches, everywhere," Gunn said,
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