SNELLVILLE, Ga. — A student at Brookwood High School in Snellville is recovering in the hospital after a stabbing in a school bathroom on Thursday, according to the principal.
Parents received an update from the principal Thursday night: "The student successfully underwent surgery and is now resting in the hospital. The family reports that he will remain in the hospital for a few days.”
Earlier on Thursday, in the first letter sent to parents, Brookwood High Principal Brett Savage initially said, "A student was found injured in a school bathroom and transported to the hospital for care."
“We want parents to understand, when you have a situation like this, it’s happening in active time,” said Bernard Watson, Gwinnett County Schools Director of Community and Media Relations. “We’re trying to gather information to figure out what’s true and what’s not true. We communicate as quickly as we can with the information that we have confirmed right away.”
A student at the school recalled the moment she knew something wasn’t right.
“I'm just sitting in class doing my work, and Dr. Savage comes over the speaker saying, ‘We need medical attention in the Commons,’” she said, remembering the call asked for students to stay in their classrooms for an extra 10 or 15 minutes. “So by this point, I was like, what's going on?”
The Brookwood High School junior said that while it hadn’t been announced, students started hearing rumblings that a student was stabbed.
“The whole class goes silent,” she remembered. “The whole class freaks out because we're like, no way.”
She said when they were let out of class, she pushed her way through the hallways to try and find her friends, to make sure they were okay.
“I have never walked faster than I did then,” she said. “I was speeding through the hallway. I was moving people. I was pushing people out of the way. I needed to find my friends.”
Savage later sent a second statement clarifying that a student was stabbed in the restroom and that a classmate was arrested for the crime.
The student accused of stabbing their classmate was charged with aggravated assault, possession of a weapon on school property and disruption of school.
"We understand this situation may be unsettling, and we want to assure you that the safety and security of our students and staff is our top priority," the letter said.
Brookwood High School "remains safe" and is operating on its normal schedule, the principal added.
“When you attack someone with a knife and stab them multiple times, there will be serious criminal charges as well as school disciplinary consequences,” said Watson.
Watson stated that police were able to arrest the suspect off campus, who had left the building, within 35 minutes of being notified. Later on, he said officers found a knife.
“I do think that we have some form of safety and some form of direction in the school, because the faculty are always on top of everything, every situation. They usually get it handled. I'm not terrified for my life, but I'm terrified for us as a community,” said the student, who said she texted her dad to come pick her up early from school.
While both students are males, neither the name of the victim nor the suspect arrested has been given.
Watson still offered a stern message regarding the consequences of such behavior on campus; "Violence at Brookwood High will not be tolerated. It's not just against our student disciplinary code; it's against the law."
He added school administrators are reviewing the safety measures in place.