One Greene County high school student was flown to the hospital Tuesday morning for injuries after being stabbed.
Greene County Sheriff Steve Burns said at around 7:45 a.m., just around the time of the first bell of the morning in South Greene High School, a 17-year-old male student used a kitchen knife to stab a 15-year-old male student in the back in the school’s cafeteria before being quickly taken down by fellow students and staff.
Burns said a female student was the first to react, subduing the attacker before staff was able to aid. During the process of taking down the student, he was disarmed.
The victim was brought to the Johnson City Medical Center by helicopter for what Burns called serious stabbing injuries.
Vicki Kirk, Director of Schools for Greene County said around 40 students and a few staff members were in the cafeteria at the time of the stabbing.
“The stabbing happened in one side of the cafeteria,” Kirk said. “And because it happened so quickly, it was most likely over before the other students even knew it.”
Kirk said the school was placed on lockdown as students were quickly channeled to the gym and 911 was called, as is school protocol. She said she received a call and arrived at the school at around 8 a.m., just as the sheriff’s deputies were arriving.
It was a quick, appropriate and a well handled response, Burns said of the way both his department and the school reacted.
Kirk spoke of the school’s staff as a well-oiled machine, saying that they would be debriefed on the situation, but she wasn’t sure the school would have much to improve upon.
“This is a very safe place, with a good culture,” Kirk said. “This has been a shock, but it’s also been a lesson.
The sheriff said his department would be conferring with the district attorney about the charges to be filed, and about the information which can be released about the juveniles involved.
No motive for the stabbing has been released at this time.Below is an earlier version of the storyGreene County sheriff's deputies were called to reports of a stabbing at a school in Greene County this morning, according to a 911 dispatcher. One person was taken to the hospital.Not much more information was available as of 9:45 a.m. but someone who answered the phone at the Greene County Sheriff's Office said deputies were still on the scene at South Greene High School, 7469 Asheville Highway, Greeneville.The 911 dispatcher said a call came in just before 8 a.m. that a stabbing had occurred. Details surrounding the assault were not immediately available. One person was taken to Johnson City Medical Center by helicopter.Keep checking JohnsonCityPress.com for more information as it becomes available.