A teen with a knife is on the run after two men were slashed outside William Howard Taft High School in the Bronx on Monday, sending both victims to the hospital and rattling a campus that was in use for summer programs.
Police said the mid-morning attack unfolded as staff and students were on site for summer programming, and officers quickly stepped up patrols around the school while detectives fanned out to nearby storefronts and public cameras in search of video.
According to amNewYork, the assault happened at about 10:20 a.m. outside the Taft campus at 240 East 172nd Street. The suspected attacker was described as a male in his teens wearing a black shirt, blue sweatpants and blue sneakers and carrying a black backpack.
Emergency crews took a 30-year-old man and a 53-year-old man to BronxCare Health System. Officials said their injuries were not believed to be life threatening, but serious enough to require hospital treatment.
Conflicting initial accounts
Early details were anything but tidy. CBS New York reported that a 48-year-old school employee was slashed in the arm and taken to a hospital, and that there were no arrests as of its update.
Police and reporters at the scene said investigators were still working through sometimes-confusing witness statements, which may explain why those first public accounts did not quite line up.
School and police response
The Department of Education said school staff and school safety agents “responded immediately and followed established safety protocols,” calling the attack “both unacceptable and deeply concerning,” according to amNewYork.
Officers from the NYPD's 44th Precinct were on scene, and detectives spent the day canvassing the block for surveillance footage and additional witnesses who might help them nail down what happened and where the suspect fled.
Not the first incident at the campus
Separate hallway slashing in April coverage previously detailed another knife attack inside the William Howard Taft campus, a case that has already fueled community worries about weapons near Bronx schools.
Local reporting this summer has charted a string of similar daytime slashings across the borough, and neighbors have been pressing for more visible prevention efforts around school buildings and along busy commercial corridors.
How to help detectives
Detectives are asking anyone with video or information to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or submit a tip online. CBS New York noted that tips are kept confidential.
The 44th Precinct also urged nearby residents and business owners to check doorbell and storefront cameras for anything unusual around the time of the attack and to contact investigators with any potentially useful footage.
The investigation is still active, and police said more details will be released once they are confirmed. School officials have declined further comment beyond their initial statement while detectives continue the search for the suspect.
