Teen accused in sword attack planned to hurt others: police By: Skye Anderson and Erik Pindera Posted: 2:38 PM CDT Wednesday, Jun. 11, 2025 Last Modified: 9:30 PM CDT Wednesday, Jun. 11, 2025 Updates

BRANDON — The 16-year-old accused of seriously assaulting a fellow student with a sword at a Brandon high school Tuesday was planning to attack more people, police say.

Brandon Police Service Chief Tyler Bates released new details Wednesday of the sword attack at Neelin High School.

The motive behind the attack remains unclear, Bates told a news conference, but did say the two knew each other.

“It’s clear that the suspect had malicious intentions and our officers’ intervention on this day prevented further bloodshed,” said Bates. “We know that certainly the harms that were intended were beyond the individual victim involved.”

The 15-year-old victim remains in stable condition in hospital with stab wounds to his chest, thighs, forearms and hands.

The accused teen, who is in custody, is facing charges of attempted murder, uttering threats, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and disguise with intent.

The disguise with intent charge suggests the teen tried to conceal his identity, but Bates said he could not reveal those details.

The 16-year-old appeared in a Brandon courtroom Wednesday morning.

Bates said police don’t yet know where the teen got the sword or whether he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

“Clearly the actions are deranged,” he said in response to a question about whether mental illness is suspected as a factor.

“In terms of the medical situation involving the youth involved, that will be something that will be further assessed. We need to understand and know why and dissect what contributed to this so we can prevent future incidents of this nature.”

Brandon police responded to a call from a Neelin student who said, “a male is going crazy and holding a sword” at 1:15 p.m. Tuesday.

The response was led by a BPS school resource officer, who got to the school within three minutes, Bates said Wednesday.

Officers found the teen several minutes later and used a Taser electroshock weapon during the arrest, while other police gave the victim emergency first aid.

“Their heroic actions directly prevented further harm,” Bates said.

School officials took immediate emergency action to protect students.

“Were it not for those lockdown procedures and the safe securing of the students that were in harm’s way, (and) the staff that were in harm’s way, for that matter, we would be having a very different discussion today,” the police chief said.

Bates praised the response by school staff and described it as a “swift, knowledgeable and well-trained.”

“The actions taken were not by chance on this day but the result of preparation, care and a commitment to student safety,” he said.

Bates said the question of whether additional security measures are needed in Brandon schools is an ongoing topic of discussion.

He pointed out that Neelin High School, along with other schools in the Brandon School Division, have BPS resource officers. It was the Neelin police resource officer who was first called by a student reporting the attack.

Bates said their presence speaks to the “recognition of potential harm.”

The school resource officer had no prior interactions with the student accused in the attack, said Bates, adding police are thinking of the young victim and his family as “he recovers from this senseless act of violence.”

“A school should always be a place of safety, a place to learn, grow and thrive,” he said.

Mathew Gustafson, superintendent of the Brandon School Division, said he’s concerned for the well-being of students, their families and staff at the high school after the attack.

“We have a crisis response team in place, but our support will not only be for today, but will be ongoing into the future,” said Gustafson.

He said the response from police was “rapid,” and there was a high level of co-operation from staff and students.

Brandon City Coun. Jason Splett, who has two children who attend Neelin, said that as a parent, it was concerning to hear about the attack.

Splett said he had a “long discussion” with his children, who are 14 and 17 years old, after the incident.

While they didn’t witness the attack, Splett said it affected them.

“That somebody was able to enter the school and proceed to be able to do that sort of thing to a fellow student, was concerning to them,” he said.

Splett said that in the years his children have been going to school in Brandon, they have gone through several lockdowns and hold-and-secure incidents. He said there have been cases where students have taken weapons such as a knife or bear spray to school.

Outside the school Wednesday, positive messages were written in colourful chalk on the sidewalks.

Some of the messages read, “Brandon stands with you,” “We love you,” “Kindness wins” and “Peace to all.”

Ingrid Pulleyblank and Sheri Reimer, who both have children at the school, said that after Tuesday’s attack, one parent sent out a group message and they all “banded together and got some chalk.”

Pulleyblank said she came to the school at 7:45 a.m. to start writing messages. When the group of parents had to leave, they left boxes of chalk at each entrance so that students could write their own messages of support.

“It shows support and community,” said Pulleyblank. “It shows the students that we care.”

sanderson@brandonsun.com

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca