A 16-year-old student is dead after authorities say she was stabbed multiple times by a classmate early Wednesday morning, WXYZ Detroit reported.
The grisly attack unfolded at Fitzgerald High School in Warren, Mich. where police say the two girls had been friends and were both straight-A students. A 17-year-old suspect is in custody for the stabbings.
Police say Dayonna Gibson, 16, was stabbed in the chest twice by her classmate and former friend. (Local 4 News/video screenshot)
According to Local 4 News, the two girls reportedly had a fight, during which the 17-year-old took out a kitchen-style knife and stabbed the 16-year-old with it in the chest twice. It’s unclear how and when the student brought the knife into the school.
Police haven’t released the name of the victim, but friends on social media have identified her as Dayonna Gibson. According to the teen’s family, Gibson was an honor student and a member of the color guard, marching band, robotics club and cross country team.
Eleventh-grader Francesca Pascua, 17, recalled the shocking incident, which she said happened in the middle of her economics class.
“I heard screaming, and I thought everyone was running from a bug or something,” Pascua told The Detroit News. “I turned around and saw a girl stab another girl.”
“It went in, and it went out,” she added. “There was blood everywhere and she (the victim) ran.”
Police haven’t determined a motive, but Warren Police Commissioner William Dwyer said it’s possible both the victim and the suspect were dating the same boy. Dwyer said the male student is cooperating with the investigation and that authorities are now seeking a warrant for murder for the female suspect.
“This is the first type of situation we’ve had in the school district in the past 50 years,” he told reporters Wednesday. “Officers can’t recall a case where a student was actually murdered at a high school in Warren.”
Witnesses said a school resource officer jumped into action after hearing Gibson’s screams from down the hall, administering CPR until medics arrived. Despite efforts to save her life, the teen was pronounced dead at a hospital just before 9:30 a.m., Local 4 News reported.
“We are deeply saddened to share that the Fitzgerald High School student who was stabbed this morning passed away at the hospital,” the school said in a statement. “Our hearts and prayers go out to the student’s family and we offer our deepest sympathy.”
The district said students were released around 10 a.m. Wednesday and that Fitzgerald would be closed on Thursday.
No one else was injured in the stabbing.