Teen injured in sword attack at Brandon high school

BRANDON — A 16-year-old male was taken into custody in relation to a sword attack at Neelin High School Tuesday afternoon that prompted a lockdown of the building.

A 15-year-old male student was rushed to the Brandon Regional Health Centre in serious condition after suffering injuries to his chest, forearms, hands and thighs, police said. He was later upgraded to stable condition.

Brandon Police Service Insp. Jason Dupuis said the victim’s “injuries were significant and serious.”

Dupuis told a news conference 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.

Police arrived at the school within minutes later and found the suspect at 1:22 p.m., Dupuis said.

Officers used a Taser on him during the arrest.

Police Chief Tyler Bates said police didn’t believe there were any other victims.

A post by the Brandon School Division Tuesday afternoon noted that the lockdown had been implemented “due to an intruder in the building with a weapon.”

BPS officers and cadets stood at the entrances surrounding the school when the Sun arrived before 3 p.m., and parents were lined up outside the gymnasium to pick up their children, with many students walking out of the school holding hands with their parents, giving them hugs and crying.

“I saw him chasing one of our students with a sword, then I ran to class,” said Fathia, who didn’t want to give her last name.

“I was just scared, that’s all,” she said through tears while standing next to her mom, who had picked her up from the school.

Another student described what happened after the attack started.

“All I know is all of a sudden, doors were slamming and we got told to sit in the corner and our teacher directed us to turn the lights off, sit in the corner and pretty much be quiet,” said Jordan-Blayne Bjornsson.

“We were definitely all scared, ’cause we didn’t know exactly what was happening,” the Grade 12 student said. “None of us felt very good and I know there were a lot of people crying.”

She said police escorted students to the gymnasium after a while.

“People were panicked, people were sad,” said Bjornsson. “I think a lot of people were just scared and they didn’t know what happened.

Police didn’t say whether the victim and suspect knew each other. More information would be released Wednesday, he said.

“Our investigators will be hard at work throughout the night,” said Bates. “We really wanted to get out and at least provide some information to citizens of Brandon, to alleviate angst and concern they would understandably have.”

— Brandon Sun