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View Winners → Crime May 03, 2023
| Photo courtesy of Tony Hisgett/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
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An investigation continues Wednesday into the stabbing of two teenagers near Los Angeles High School, after three people were detained in connection with the crime before two of them were released after questioning.
The stabbings occurred around 4:25 p.m. Monday near the school in the 4600 block of Olympic Boulevard, between West and Rimpau boulevards.
Two teenage boys, age 15 and 16, were injured. Los Angeles police said one of the victims was a student at the high school, but the other was not.
Both were taken to a hospital in stable condition, according to LAPD Chief Michel Moore. He said the stab wounds were to the students’ upper back, right arm and right leg.
Police said witnesses described what they believed to be a fist fight among six to 10 people, some of whom appeared to be possible students at the school, and two vehicles — a black Toyota and a red Cadillac — leaving the scene after the altercation.
Moore told the Police Commission on Tuesday that the people in the group appeared to range in age from 15 to 20.
“Over the course of their investigation, we have detained three individuals that we believe had some aspects of involvement in this,” Moore said Tuesday morning. “None of them attended the LA High School.”
Police said the three people — one man and two teen boys — were detained around 11 p.m. Monday in the 2300 block of West Jefferson Boulevard. Moore said the teens were age 14 and 17. The 17-year-old boy was arrested for allegedly being in possession of a firearm, Moore said.
According to the LAPD, the 14-year-old boy and the man were both questioned and eventually released, and the investigation was ongoing.
Moore said investigators have yet to determine a “motivation for this or what precipitated this violence.”
In addition, Moore said, “Our investigation has also recovered two knives and two handguns,” Moore said. “Our interviews are evolving.”
After the attack Monday, Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho called it “another senseless stabbing in our community near Los Angeles High School.”
“Our thoughts go out to the two victims and their families,” he said. “All of our students deserve to go to school free of fear and full of hope. We must work together to continue to provide safe passages to and from school.
“Law enforcement is currently investigating this incident, and we are working with the school to ensure our campus remains safe. Counselors and mental health support will be provided to those who may need it in school tomorrow.”
The Los Angeles Times reported that school police had been near the campus until shortly before the stabbings occurred as part of the “safe passage” program, which provides patrols before and after school.
Units left the school to respond to a report that a gun had been found at another campus.
