A former student allegedly stabbed three staff members at a special needs school in California and planted two bombs in the surrounding area on Monday morning, according to authorities.
The ex-student is accused of knifing the three staffers at Switzer Learning Center, a private school in Torrance for neurodivergent students from kindergarten to 12th grade, at around 8:15 a.m., the Torrance Police Department said in a statement.
He was arrested after attempting to stab a fourth staff member and fleeing the scene, cops said.
While being cuffed, the former student told cops that he had planted two pipe bombs close to the school near 208th Street and Amapola Avenue, according to police.
The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department bomb squad responded and located two devices, which were found to be “incendiary,” cops said.
Officials detonated the two devices on the scene, the Los Angeles Times reported. The area was deemed safe after officials had warned residents to stay clear of the immediate vicinity.
Two staff members were brought to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The third staff member was treated on the scene, authorities added.
Additional details about the suspect or a motive in the attack are not yet known.
The knifeman — whose identity hasn’t been released — remains in custody, police said.
Mom Cristina Morales, 54, told the LA Times she had been waiting for hours for her 18-year-old son with autism to be released from the school.
“I’m nervous,” she told the outlet. “My son gets stressed out easily.”
The mother was dropping off her other son at school when she received a call from her daughter notifying her about the stabbing at her brother’s school.
“She told me that a student had brought a knife and wanted to stab other students,” she said. “My son ran and hid.”
Morales recalled learning her son had been in the cafeteria, not far from the main office, when he heard a scuffle and witnessed someone being attacked.
After witnessing the stabbing, he told seven other students to hide in a storage room and blockaded the door with a chair.
The students also used black trash bags to cover themselves and hide, the frightened mother said.
The incident remains under investigation.
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