Teen charged with stabbing siblings on Hatfield playground

A 15-year-old Lansdale boy is facing attempted homicide and other charges after authorities say he stabbed his siblings several times Monday night behind an elementary school in Hatfield, leaving his younger brother in critical condition.

The Montgomery County district attorney’s office said in a news release that the teen was charged as an adult in the attack on his 9-year-old sister and 13-year-old brother behind Oak Park Elementary School.

He is charged with attempted homicide and two counts of aggravated assault, which are felonies, as well as misdemeanor offenses of simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and possessing an instrument of crime.

The boy, whose name is being withheld by this news organization, was arraigned on the charges Tuesday morning and sent to Montgomery County Prison under $500,000 bail.

Hatfield police allege the boy, his brother and his sister were at the playground behind the school about 5:20 p.m. when he stabbed them both.

The mother of the children called 911 and said the boy had schizophrenia, and that he stabbed her two other children, according to police.

The DA’s office said the boy stabbed his brother 15 times in the torso, head and hands. He needed surgery, and was listed in critical but stable condition Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.

The girl suffered lacerations to her scalp, and was treated and released, according to the DA’s office.

The two were taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest for treatment, officials said.

Surveillance footage showed the boy chasing his brother from the playground to a snow embankment, where his brother then fell on his back, court documents state.

The boy repeatedly stabbed his brother with a knife, according to police. His sister tried to help him, prompting him to chase her, court documents allege.

His brother got up, walked several feet, then collapsed, according to authorities. Police said the boy then slashed his brother in the face.

Authorities said the boy picked his sister up and tried to slit her throat, but she fell to the ground and tried to run away. He chased after her and pushed her on the sidewalk, and appeared to stab her multiple times, court documents state.

She was able to run away, police said. The boy threw away the knife, which was later recovered by investigators nearby, charging documents state.

Surveillance footage showed the boy using his cellphone while walking around his siblings before running off toward Oak Park Road, according to authorities.

He was found in a nearby house and was taken into custody, police said.

Kate Delano, spokesperson for the DA’s office, said the boy is charged as an adult because state law requires it when someone his age charged with attempted murder or aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

She noted that his attorney could motion to have the case decertified and handled at the juvenile court level.

Delano said the investigation is ongoing, and that authorities had not yet determined why the incident happened.

North Penn School District said in a statement that the incident was after school hours and not related to school activities. No students were in the building at the time.

A message left for the boy’s attorney was not returned Tuesday afternoon.

Lehigh Valley Health Network will hold its second mass COVID19 vaccination clinic Wednesday at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom. During the clinic, LVHN will provide only the second dose of Moderna vaccine to those age 75 and older who received their first vaccination at the park during the health network’s first clinic in January. The drive-thru clinic will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This is the second clinic that LVHN has held at Dorney Park. The first was Jan. 27 and was also only open to seniors. LVHN has also been administering vaccines at its hospitals.

LVHN spokesperson Brian Downs said the roughly 1,000 people who were vaccinated Jan. 27 are scheduled for the clinic. Downs added that LVHN plans to eventually make its Dorney Park COVID-19 vaccine clinic a regular occurrence, but the network does not have enough vaccine doses available at this time to undertake such an initiative.

Though those 65 and older are now included in Pennsylvania’s first phase of the vaccine rollout, doses remain in limited supply nationwide. LVHN’s first clinic was open to those 75 and older.

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