Dr. Jeffrey Fecher, Abington School District superintendent, sent two emails today on behalf of an incident that occurred at Abington Senior High School early this afternoon.
The first email is as follows:
Please be advised that five students were involved in two separate physical altercations at the Senior High today, which occurred simultaneously in different areas of the building, and resulted in one student sustaining injuries that required medical attention. Administrators responded immediately in both situations and Abington Township Police were called to the school.
Abington Senior High School was placed in a brief lockdown until both altercations were under control. The involved students are with police in the main office. We have confirmation that one student was in possession of a pocket knife, though we do not have confirmation as to whether that weapon was the cause of the other student’s injuries.
As Abington Police are still investigating, we do not have further information to share at this time. Dr. Swift will address these incidents with the entire school before the end of the day, reiterating that violence, whether inside or outside of school, is unacceptable.
The second email reads:
As an update to my previous communication, I would like to share additional information resulting from the investigation conducted by the Abington Township Police to help clarify any misinformation about today’s altercations at the Senior High. It has been determined by APD that while a pocket knife was found on the scene, this was not the cause of the student’s injuries.
Please know that during any emergency situation in our school buildings, we will share with you what facts we can as soon as we are able, including letting you know when a situation is resolved.
I hope our students and staff have an enjoyable and safe weekend. We will continue to provide updates over the weekend if there is further information to share.
Abington Township police released the following statement regarding the incident:
On April 26, 2024 at 1:23 PM, the School Resource Officer at the Abington High School called for assistance after two simultaneous fights broke out. Two of the involved students became physical with the police officer and school staff, and resisted their efforts to break up the fight. This prompted a large police response to the school. It was reported that there was a knife involved in one of the fights, which prompted a brief lockdown of the school. The incidents were quickly brought under control. One of the students who was involved in the fight sustained a minor injury, and was transported to a hospital by ambulance. A total of three juveniles, including the juvenile who had been transported to the hospital, were arrested.
Soon after the incident, misinformation surfaced that there was a stabbing at the school. The investigation revealed that a pocket knife was present during the altercation but was discarded by the student before any assault had occurred. The knife was not the cause of the student’s injuries.
One juvenile was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, and recklessly endangering another person, and will be detained at the Montgomery County Youth Detention Center. One juvenile was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, and possession of a weapon on school property, and will be detained at the Montgomery County Youth Detention Center. One juvenile was charged with simple assault and was released to a parent. All of the students involved in the incident had mutually entered into the respective altercations.
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