Student dies in hospital after stabbing at Northeast Middle School in Kansas City
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Northeast Middle School stabbing
Kansas City police responded to a stabbing on Tuesday, April 12, 2022, at Northeast Middle School, 4904 Independence Ave. Arriving officers found 14-year-old Manuel J. Guzman with stab wounds in a bathroom. He was taken to a hospital where he died later that day. Another student was taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder in Jackson County Juvenile Court.
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A student at Northeast Middle School in Kansas City has died after he was found stabbed inside a school bathroom Tuesday morning, according to police.
Officers responded after 9 a.m. to the school at 4904 Independence Ave. in the South Indian Mound neighborhood on reports of a stabbing. Arriving officers found the victim, a male student, inside a bathroom with stab wounds and immediately began rendering first aid along with school security. Emergency medical crews responded and took the student to a hospital.
Late Tuesday night, police announced that the student had died of his injuries.
Officer Donna Drake, a department spokeswoman, said a subject of interest — another male student — had been taken into custody and that detectives were still working on the case late Tuesday. She added that the findings would be presented to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office for consideration of criminal charges.
The school went into lockdown and police shut down streets in the area immediately surrounding the school. Students were let out of class early and reunited with their families. Parents there told The Star they received worrisome calls from their children as the students were locked down in classrooms.
“I was very concerned. I know they have metal detectors but you can’t keep them safe from everything,” Carl Moore, whose seventh grader called him from science class. “It’s for the individual to deescalate the situation.”
The stabbing occurred early in the school day. Classes begin at 8:20 and run to 3:20 p.m. The school has an enrollment of about 675 students in grades seven and eight as of late November, according to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
School officials said Tuesday in a letter to families that classes were expected to be in session at Northeast Middle on Wednesday. Resources including mental health counseling were being made available. Additional security was being arranged as well.
“Please know that safety above all else will always be a focus of our administrative team, our Board of Directors and our entire staff,” Kansas City Public Schools Superintendant Mark Bedell said in a letter Tuesday evening. “We will continue to lead with a high degree of transparency as we strive to maintain safe learning environments for all of our students.”
In a statement Tuesday night, Mayor Quinton Lucas offered condolences to the family of the victim.
“I am very saddened to hear that the middle schooler stabbed today at school has died,” the mayor said. “Too many of children are struggling and we all have to do more to get them the help they need.”
This story was originally published April 12, 2022 at 8:46 PM.
