By Jon Johnson
FORT THOMAS – Just one week after a teenager fatally stabbed another teenager at a track meet in Texas, a Fort Thomas Junior High student allegedly threatened to slice the throat of another student after accidentally being struck by a basketball.
According to a Graham County Sheriff’s Office report, on April 8, deputies received a report of a 14-year-old student at Fort Thomas Junior High School allegedly threatening another student with a knife.
The students were reportedly playing basketball in the gymnasium when the ball accidentally struck the suspect. According to several students, the suspect then pulled out a switchblade pocketknife and threatened to “slice” the victim’s throat if the ball hit him again or if they played near him. The students reported that the suspect is known for acting irrationally, and they were afraid of what could happen when they return to Bylas after school.
The suspect was reportedly uncooperative during a police interrogation but did say that another student was “holding” his knife for him in his backpack.
At that time, the suspect was suspended from school for 10 days, pending a referral to the school board for a long-term suspension. The case was referred to Graham County Juvenile Probation and the Graham County Attorney’s Office for review of possible charges, including threatening and intimidating, minor in possession of a deadly weapon, minor misconduct involving a deadly weapon inside a school, and interfering with and disrupting the peaceful conduct of an educational facility.
While numerous students were aware of the suspect’s actions with the knife, none of them implicated a second student with it. However, after the suspect advised of it, school administrators searched the second student’s backpack and located the knife. The second student was surprised to see the knife in his backpack and said the suspect likely put it in there when they were in the gym, and said he was not friends with the suspect and would not carry his knife for him.
The second student was suspended from school for five days and faces possible charges for possession of a deadly weapon by a minor.
