A 16-year-old Foss High School student is facing multiple felony charges after five people, including a security guard, were stabbed during a fight inside the Tacoma campus.
Waleed Emad Essakhi was charged Friday, May 1, with four counts of assault in the first degree in Pierce County Superior Court, according to charging documents. Under Washington law, 16- and 17-year-olds charged with serious violent offenses are automatically prosecuted in adult court.
The stabbings happened Thursday afternoon, April 30, during class hours at Foss High School, triggering a campus lockdown and a large emergency response, as Puget Press reported.
According to an arrest report, the most seriously injured victim suffered stab wounds to the chest and side and remained in intensive care. Another victim was stabbed in the back, while others had cuts and lacerations.
A school security guard was also injured while trying to stop the attack. The guard told investigators he responded to a call for help and ran into a hallway where staff were attempting to break up a fight. He was cut while disarming Essakhi, according to charging documents.
Detectives said the confrontation stemmed from a dispute over a vape pen taken the day before. Four students confronted Essakhi in a hallway, forming a semi-circle around him, according to the report.
Surveillance video reviewed by investigators shows Essakhi slapping his own face and shifting his stance before reaching into his pocket, according to the arrest report. The video then shows the group of students striking him as he swung a knife, investigators wrote.
“The boys began to wildly punch Essakhi as he swung the knife at them,” the report states.
Police said the group pulled him into a wall and knocked him to the ground during the struggle.
Officers with the Tacoma Police Department responded to the school just before 1:40 p.m., along with crews from the Tacoma Fire Department. All victims, along with Essakhi, were taken to local hospitals.
Four victims were initially listed in critical condition and one had minor injuries, police said. All were later upgraded to stable condition.
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