School Student Slashes Another In The Chest During Bathroom Fight, Video Captured

A fight ensued in the bathroom of a high school Monday in Boston, leading to the arrest of a student who allegedly stabbed another. The latter was hospitalized following the altercation.

The incident happened at the Medford Vocational Technical High School, which also shares the campus and building with the Medford High School. Both institutions were placed on lockdown following the fight, authorities said, BostonGlobe reported.

It is to be noted that several students had staged a walkout from the school earlier this month after a spike in violent incidents at the institution. Principal Paul D'Alleva issued a letter to parents saying that the school was planning community-wide programming opportunities with an aim to "improving the culture and climate at Medford High School," Patch reported.

"As it stands now, it looks like we had a fight between two individuals," Medford Police Captain Paul Covino said, referring to the students. "It was in a bathroom in the vocational school," he added.

After being injured, the student reported to the nurse's office, and the wound "looked like a laceration on his chest," Covino said.

"We're making arrangements to interview the other potential witnesses," he said, adding, "There's no imminent threat to anyone else in the school right now."

Covino did not reveal the name of the person who was taken into custody and the charges that they would face. The victim was revealed to be admitted to a hospital to recuperate from the minor chest injury sustained during the fight.

The fight was witnessed by many and captured on a cellphone camera, according to Medford Public Schools Superintendent Marice Edouard-Vincent.

"Today's incident was an isolated incident," Edouard-Vincent said, adding, "We've never dealt with this kind of an incident before here in Medford and so we've been working collaboratively with the police all day. The fire [department] was here today and also EMS was working with us to try to get to the bottom of what has transpired."

Edouard-Vincent said the school will make resources available to the students Monday and Tuesday to cope with the happenings on campus, calling the video footage of the fight "very disturbing."

She added, "We do have one student that is in police custody. So we're very happy that that has taken place. There are definitely going to be clear repercussions for the students that were involved in today's incident and that's already taking place."

A woman outside the school told the news outlet that she received an email about the fight at the institution after 11 a.m. ET. She highlighted that previously concerns were raised about the unmonitored bathrooms at the institution, and now it's time to spring into action.

"There's too many bathrooms and there's a lot of kids and if they don't monitor these bathrooms, this is where the trouble is starting and I keep saying it over and over and over again. Maybe now someone will listen, but now here's another mother that has to deal with something horrific happening to her child," the woman told the outlet.

Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn took to Facebook to condemn the "vicious" attack.

"The safety and security of our students is our top priority and we will make sure that they feel supported during this traumatic time," Lungo-Koehn wrote.

"While this is an isolated incident and is in no way representative of the values and ideals the school administration strives for, it's a horrific day for our school community and I'm appalled that this happened. My thoughts are with the families, students and our Mustang community," her statement read in part.

Parents refused to second the mayor's claim about this being an isolated incident. "My daughter does not want to go back to school. Where is the urgency? This is not an isolated incident," said George Scarpelli, a Medford High School parent. He spoke to the Medford School Committee that convened after the stabbing, Boston25 reported.

Other parents said they learned about the stabbing much later. "Many of us didn't know if it was our kid that was hurt. The school has terrible cell phone service," another Medford High School parent said, the outlet reported.

Several students spoke at the meeting and some were in tears while describing the violence they've experienced at the school. They told the committee that the stabbing has scared them further and they didn't want to come to school.

Parents and students blamed the school officials for being inefficient when it comes to keeping the kids safe. "I was in the hospital for 8 ½ hours that day. No one checked in until the next day. Do something, do your job and if you can't do it, step down and let someone else do it for you!" said a Medford High School student who was beaten up two months ago by some students at school.

The school committee acknowledged there was a systemic issue and that they needed to better their communication. A follow-up meeting called the "accountability process" is scheduled for Jan.3.