A 16-year-old student holding two knives went on a stabbing rampage in the hallways of a Pittsburgh-area high school early on Wednesday, injuring 20 people, at least nine of them seriously, officials said.
The suspected attacker, who was not identified, was in police custody, Dan Stevens, deputy emergency management coordinator for the Westmoreland County, told reporters.
The attacks began around 7:13 a.m. EDT in several classrooms and hallways as the classes were starting at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, 20 miles east of Pittsburgh, officials said.
The school was evacuated quickly after a student or staff member pulled the fire alarm, said Murrysville Police Chief Tom Seefeld.
Gun rights advocates like to point out that there are a number of methods that can be used to injure or kill people, other than the use of firearms. And of course that is true.
Keeping that in mind it is worth noting that here is a case of a young man who clearly wanted to cause harm to a great number of people, and he did cause significant injuries.
What he did not do however was kill anybody.
Apparently this young man only had access to these knives, and not to handguns or assault weapons, so his violent attack did not result in the taking of a life.
One can only imagine how much worse this would have been, if instead of two knives he would have walked down the hallways spraying bullets from two military assault rifles.
Of course we really do not have to imagine, we already know how much worse it could be.
The 2nd Amendment advocates are correct, there are a number of ways to take a human life.
However for those seeking a high body count, nothing beats the assault weapon.
Fortunately for the students at this school, the angry young man was unable to exercise is constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms.
I imagine the NRA is quite disappointed.
