A violent incident involving a knife at Westchester Enriched Sciences Magnets high school and WISH Academy charter school in Los Angeles on Aug. 31 sent students fleeing and prompted a shelter-in-place order. The confrontation occurred around 12:30 p.m. when a male student entered the campus quad area with a large knife.
Footage captured the moment another student approached the armed individual. The situation escalated when the knife-wielding student punched the other student and then pursued him, causing widespread panic and screaming among other students on campus.
"It was a big knife," student Kaylin Lewis told KTLA. "When the knife was pulled out, I just ran away. The whole thing was surreal." Another student, Kaylani Bates, mentioned hearing rumors about gang rivalry but was unsure of the exact cause, adding, "There were a lot of people chasing him."
In response to the threat, school officials issued a shelter-in-place order while the student with the knife was still on campus. The Los Angeles School Police Department responded swiftly and took a student into custody.
Parents expressed outrage and concern over the incident, with some reporting that they were notified too late. One parent recounted the fear of a child being locked in a hallway during the lockdown, potentially exposed to danger. "To have a child locked in a hallway by himself, unable to get into a classroom because it’s a lockdown and you can’t reopen the door? That’s insane because anything could’ve happened to that kid in the hallway," the parent told KTLA. "People on the field, same thing. This guy with the knife could’ve been chasing after all of them. To not know what’s going on and to have your son or daughter call you before the school does, it’s really scary to know he had to go through that alone."
School officials confirmed that the student who was attacked sustained a minor cut. The Los Angeles Unified School District stated that all students and staff are safe, with no injuries reported and no ongoing threat to the campus. Instruction has since resumed normally.
"Out of an abundance of caution, the Los Angeles School Police Department will provide additional patrols around our campus," the district said in a statement. "Please know that we take any incident involving student safety extremely seriously. The safety and well-being of our students and staff remain our highest priority, and we will continue to work closely with law enforcement and District personnel to maintain a safe learning environment."
