Students likely to be charged in stabbing

Both of the Waukegan High School students hospitalized following a stabbing Thursday at the school’s Washington campus are expected to be charged and are being described as “mutual combatants,” a Waukegan Police Department spokesman said.

The incident, combined with a threatening message left in one of the school’s bathrooms earlier in the week, led to a flurry of rumors and some parents deciding to keep their children home Friday, school board President Brandon Ewing said.

Attendance at Washington campus was 54% as of early afternoon, district spokesman Nick Alajakis said. Fridays in November typically see attendance levels around 84%.

Ewing, who visited the campus Friday, said he expects attendance to return to normal Monday as rumors begin to be debunked. The threatening message had also specifically mentioned Friday.

The stabbing Thursday is something that “shouldn’t happen,” Ewing said. “When you send your kids to school, you want them to be safe. We’re taking every precaution to make sure that the students and staff do feel safe.

“We’re going to answer the tough questions. We’re going to make sure we get all the facts.”

The incident remains under investigation by both district officials and the Waukegan police.

Waukegan District 60 officials will be evaluating what occurred and will look at what safety measures can be enhanced, something it does on a continual basis, district spokesman Nick Alajakis said Thursday.

Waukegan High School has metal detectors and X-ray machines at each of its campuses.

The stabbing was the culmination of a verbal altercation between a 16year-old boy and a 17-yearold boy in the bathroom, according to a statement issued Friday morning by Waukegan police.

Each boy stabbed the other, according to the news release. The unknown items used in the stabbing have not been recovered.

A District 60 spokesman had initially said that one student had stabbed the other and that both were taken to the hospital.

The 16-year-old was taken to an area hospital with “moderate injuries” and has since been released, according to the release. The 17-year-old remains in the hospital where he had been taken with “moderate to serious injuries.”