Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Police: Girl stabbed at Henderson middle school

thurman white stabbing

Mikayla Whitmore

Metro Police Capt. Ken Young speaks with media outside Thurman White Middle School in Henderson following a stabbing in which a student from another school was injured on Friday, Aug. 18, 2017.

Updated Friday, Aug. 18, 2017 | 12:58 p.m.

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Student Ricky Osorio Rafael, 11, speaks with media outside Thurman White Middle School in Henderson following a stabbing in which a student from another school was injured on Friday, Aug. 18, 2017.

Today was only 11-year-old Ricky Osorio Rafael’s fifth day at Thurman White Middle School, and he started his day to the sounds of his classmates’ screams.

He was at his locker before class began when he heard a large group of students yelling in the quad area near the lunchroom.

The kids were reacting to a fight between a 12-year-old female student and a 16-year-old girl who had sneaked onto campus, Clark County School District Police Capt. Ken Young said.

The 12-year-old girl stabbed the older girl with a knife before school staff members could separate them, Young said.

The incident was reported about 8:30 a.m. at the school at 1661 West Galleria Drive, near Russell Road and Whitney Ranch Drive.

“I was at my locker and I just hear screaming,” Rafael said. “All of the kids by the lunchroom were screaming and then I heard there was a stabbing between two girls.”

The victim was taken to a hospital in an unknown condition, while the 12-year-old was being questioned by police, Young said.

The girls may have had an ongoing history of altercations over the summer, Young said.

He said the teen got onto campus unnoticed. “With it being the first week of school, staff and everybody are still learning who the students are, so she was able to blend in and walk in with other students,” Young said.

The school sent an email to parents, many of whom came and picked up their children. Young said counselors were on site and would be available to any students needing assistance.

“It’s a traumatic situation for students at any age, whether it’s high school, middle school or elementary school,” Young said. “Even in a workplace, that’s traumatic for anybody.”

After the incident, classes continued as normal.

“Any time you have a situation with major violence, we sit down and review our security protocol,” Young said. “We may increase patrol or presence on the campus.”