A knife fight between two male students in a bathroom the morning of Dec. 9 at Wyandotte Roosevelt High School put the school on lockdown and brought police to the scene. The student with the knife was apprehended off campus, while the other student experienced a superficial wound.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
WYANDOTTE – A fight in a bathroom between two male students, one with a knife, put Roosevelt High School on lockdown Dec. 9, with police officers responding quickly to the scene.
The student wielding the knife, who fled the school shortly afterward, was apprehended off campus within 15 minutes by a Wyandotte police officer.
The other student had a superficial cut to his back from the knife, and was treated by paramedics at the school, and released to a parent.
Police Chief Brian Zalewski said Downriver Central Emergency Dispatch received a call at 10:46 a.m. from school personnel, and police officers arrived within minutes.
“The high school was placed into immediate lockdown,” he said. “The officers were directed to the second-floor restroom located in the southeast corner of the main school building, where the fight occurred.”
Zaleski said as officers secured the building, they reviewed the school’s surveillance camera footage for images of the knife-wielding student, a 16-year-old who fled the building on foot.
“This image, along with his description, was sent to officers in the area,” he said. “Within a short time, a detective located the suspect walking on the railroad tracks near Antoine Street, approximately three-quarters of a mile from the high school.”
Zaleski said when the suspect saw the police officer, he tried to hide in some brush, but the detective was able to apprehend the teen and take him into custody without incident.
“He was transported to the Police Department, and his parents were contacted,” he said. “The suspect was then transported to the Wayne County Youth Home in Detroit.”
Zaleski said the investigation is ongoing.
Wyandotte Public Schools Supt. Catherine Cost said the knife-wielding suspect will be scheduled for an expulsion hearing with her.
She said the incident was very concerning to the administration, and thanked the parents of RHS students for their patience as staff worked through the situation.
“I am grateful for the quick response of the Wyandotte Police Department, including Chief Zalewski,” Cost said. “They will continue to investigate this altercation.”
She said student safety is school district’s foundation, and she urged parents to talk to their children about “making good decisions” and reporting suspicious circumstances.
Dec. 9 after school activities, with the exception of Homework Den, continued as planned, with regular Dec. 10 classes scheduled.