A student was injured with a knife during an incident at a Richland County high school in Columbia on Monday, according to school district officials. The injured student received medical treatment and is expected to recover, staff said, and officials described the incident as isolated, with no other students hurt.
Richland County School District One confirmed the details to WIS News 10, which reported that the student who brought the knife will face discipline under the Richland One Student Code of Conduct. The district has turned the investigation over to the Columbia Police Department, where it remains ongoing. No further details about the students involved or their ages have been released.
Fifth Knife Incident Since Early October
Monday's incident marks the fifth time a Richland County student has brought a knife to school since Oct. 6, according to the station's report. That stretch of weeks has included at least two other publicly reported cases involving students as young as six years old.
On Oct. 21, the Richland County Sheriff's Department investigated two separate knife incidents on the same morning, according to The State. A school resource officer at Dutch Fork Middle School was alerted around 7:45 a.m. that a 13-year-old student had a knife in his backpack; the student was charged with possessing a weapon on school grounds and released to his parents, the paper reported.
About 30 minutes later, an officer at North Springs Elementary School was told that a 6-year-old student had a large kitchen knife. The child said he had it for protection, according to the sheriff's department, and was released to his parents, The State reported.
Earlier Case Involved a Nine-Year-Old
Weeks before that, on Oct. 6, a nine-year-old student brought a knife to Annie Burnside Elementary School intending to harm other students, per the same account from the station. One child sustained a small cut to the upper body in that incident and was treated by the school nurse, with the district saying at the time that the injury was believed to be accidental based on the information available then.
The pattern of incidents comes against the backdrop of at least one more serious case in the county's recent history: a 17-year-old was arrested and charged with attempted murder following a stabbing at Columbia High School, according to Cola Daily.
What Happens Next
Richland One's code of conduct, published by the district, outlines the disciplinary framework that applies to weapons violations on campus, though the specific penalties facing the student involved in Monday's incident have not been detailed publicly. The Columbia Police Department's investigation into Monday's incident remains active, and no additional updates on charges or school assignment have been released.
