RALEIGH, NC - On Monday, November 27th, a 15-year-old high school student was stabbed to death by a 14-year-old classmate during a physical altercation. A local news outlet reported that the deceased's grandmother said that the school received a call warning them that "something was going to happen."
The New York Post reported that the incident was caught on camera and took place inside of a gym at Southeast Raleigh High School. A second student, a 16-year-old, was also injured during the incident and was transported to a nearby hospital to be treated for a non-life threatening stab wound.
The victim has been identified as Delvin Ferrell and he was a freshman at the high school. His family released a statement, saying, "We are a grieving family and trying to process this. It is a tragedy all around. We are a forgiving family and don't hold any ill will."
The suspect has been identified as Tyquan General Jr. Raleigh police obtained a secure custody order for the 14-year-old and District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said that a juvenile secure custody hearing took place on Tuesday, November 28th.
The teen is accused of murder and Freeman said that her intentions are to transfer the case to Superior Court to try the 14-year-old as an adult. She said that state law directs that, once a probable cause hearing takes place, 14-year-olds charged with first-degree murder are transferred to Superior Court.
The family may be forgiving, but that didn't stop Ferrell's grandmother, Laura Grimes, from making a statement against the school. Local news outlet WRAL reported that Grimes said during a two-hour forum, "There was a call to the school that something was going to happen. All of this is a tragedy. Something should have taken place as soon as they got that call."
General's mother reportedly made the same claim. However, WRAL reached out to every principal of every school in the district, as well as all nine school board members and the district's communications director. They have not heard back from any of those people at the time of this writing.
The police spokesperson did provide a comment, saying, "The information that may have been received leading up to an incident is all part of the investigation. The incident is still under investigation and additional information will be released at the appropriate time."
According to reports, the initial call to the Raleigh Police Department (RPD) came in around 11:01 a.m., when a school resource officer called for EMS and backup, saying that a student had been stabbed.
Police said that there was a fight involving multiple students, but they did not give an exact number. Part of the fight caught on camera shows two students face to face before a younger student in a black jacket throws a punch at a student in a red jacket, who then responds with his own punch. Other videos taken by several students show multiple perspectives of the fight. It appears that the fight began outside of the gym and then spilled inside, with students following as the fight unfolded.
Video obtained by CBS 17 shows that during the fight, one of the students jabs at two teens with a sharp object before fleeing the scene. After the apparent stabbing, a woman can be heard using her radio, saying, "He's losing consciousness right now. We're in the main gym."
A male voice responds, "Can you make sure the administrators put the school on lockdown?" Nearly a dozen police vehicles responded as well as EMS and other first responders. Cherelle McLaughlin, the mother of one of the students involved in the fight said that her son was acting in self-defense. She said that he was concerned for his safety at school.
The mother said, "I don't believe he took the knife into school. I believe he got the knife from somebody in the school because he did not go to school with a knife. I dropped nhim off at school. He did not go to school with it." Her son was the student seen wearing the red sweatshirt at the beginning of the video.
McLaughlin added, "The whole situation is terrible. I feel bad for the other family but in return, I feel bad for my son because he was fighting for his life. It wasn't a fair fight. I just don't think it should have happened like that."
Patterson said that responding officers quickly secured the scene and rendered first aid before the two victims were taken to the hospital. During the press conference, Wake County Superintendent Robert Taylor said that the safety and well-being of his students are what is most important to him.
The school closed on Tuesday, November 28th, so that students could reflect and come to grips with the death of their fellow classmate. Taylor said, "We will continue to find ways to strengthen the safety and security of our schools. This is a tragedy for everyone involved."
He added, "We don't use metal detectors. But, we do have processes and protocols where if there's a reasonable suspicion a student has a weapon, we will search that student That's the extend of what we do at this point." Many parents are wondering how a knife got on campus in the first place and how the fight started.
Taylor said, "In the aftermath of today's tragedy we will review all of our safety processes and protocols to determine what happened, what changes need to be made. Following that review I will work with our board to pursue any additional improvement options that may prevent such actions of violence in the future."
The New York Post reported that the incident was caught on camera and took place inside of a gym at Southeast Raleigh High School. A second student, a 16-year-old, was also injured during the incident and was transported to a nearby hospital to be treated for a non-life threatening stab wound.
The victim has been identified as Delvin Ferrell and he was a freshman at the high school. His family released a statement, saying, "We are a grieving family and trying to process this. It is a tragedy all around. We are a forgiving family and don't hold any ill will."
The suspect has been identified as Tyquan General Jr. Raleigh police obtained a secure custody order for the 14-year-old and District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said that a juvenile secure custody hearing took place on Tuesday, November 28th.
The teen is accused of murder and Freeman said that her intentions are to transfer the case to Superior Court to try the 14-year-old as an adult. She said that state law directs that, once a probable cause hearing takes place, 14-year-olds charged with first-degree murder are transferred to Superior Court.
The family may be forgiving, but that didn't stop Ferrell's grandmother, Laura Grimes, from making a statement against the school. Local news outlet WRAL reported that Grimes said during a two-hour forum, "There was a call to the school that something was going to happen. All of this is a tragedy. Something should have taken place as soon as they got that call."
General's mother reportedly made the same claim. However, WRAL reached out to every principal of every school in the district, as well as all nine school board members and the district's communications director. They have not heard back from any of those people at the time of this writing.
The police spokesperson did provide a comment, saying, "The information that may have been received leading up to an incident is all part of the investigation. The incident is still under investigation and additional information will be released at the appropriate time."
According to reports, the initial call to the Raleigh Police Department (RPD) came in around 11:01 a.m., when a school resource officer called for EMS and backup, saying that a student had been stabbed.
Police said that there was a fight involving multiple students, but they did not give an exact number. Part of the fight caught on camera shows two students face to face before a younger student in a black jacket throws a punch at a student in a red jacket, who then responds with his own punch. Other videos taken by several students show multiple perspectives of the fight. It appears that the fight began outside of the gym and then spilled inside, with students following as the fight unfolded.
Video obtained by CBS 17 shows that during the fight, one of the students jabs at two teens with a sharp object before fleeing the scene. After the apparent stabbing, a woman can be heard using her radio, saying, "He's losing consciousness right now. We're in the main gym."
A male voice responds, "Can you make sure the administrators put the school on lockdown?" Nearly a dozen police vehicles responded as well as EMS and other first responders. Cherelle McLaughlin, the mother of one of the students involved in the fight said that her son was acting in self-defense. She said that he was concerned for his safety at school.
The mother said, "I don't believe he took the knife into school. I believe he got the knife from somebody in the school because he did not go to school with a knife. I dropped nhim off at school. He did not go to school with it." Her son was the student seen wearing the red sweatshirt at the beginning of the video.
McLaughlin added, "The whole situation is terrible. I feel bad for the other family but in return, I feel bad for my son because he was fighting for his life. It wasn't a fair fight. I just don't think it should have happened like that."
Patterson said that responding officers quickly secured the scene and rendered first aid before the two victims were taken to the hospital. During the press conference, Wake County Superintendent Robert Taylor said that the safety and well-being of his students are what is most important to him.
The school closed on Tuesday, November 28th, so that students could reflect and come to grips with the death of their fellow classmate. Taylor said, "We will continue to find ways to strengthen the safety and security of our schools. This is a tragedy for everyone involved."
He added, "We don't use metal detectors. But, we do have processes and protocols where if there's a reasonable suspicion a student has a weapon, we will search that student That's the extend of what we do at this point." Many parents are wondering how a knife got on campus in the first place and how the fight started.
Taylor said, "In the aftermath of today's tragedy we will review all of our safety processes and protocols to determine what happened, what changes need to be made. Following that review I will work with our board to pursue any additional improvement options that may prevent such actions of violence in the future."
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