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Monterey County Students threatening to bring weapons to school at alarming rate, crisis team says

A stabbing near or on school grounds opens the door for a lot of questions.

“It appears that, it was a case of self defense,” said Henry Gomez, a commander with Salinas Police.

A 13-year-old boy stabbed a 14-year-old boy after El Sausal Middle School let out Tuesday afternoon. Police determined the teen had the knife with him on campus, which is against the law.

“We’re not quite done with the investigation yet, at this point we’re not comfortable making an arrest with what we know,” Gomez said.

The boy was brought in for questioning and told police he believed he was going to be jumped. The boy’s mother told Central Coast News Tuesday night that her son was being bullied.

The Monterey County Crisis Team usually sees 8 to 10 kids a month in the emergency room who suffer from bullying and suicidal thoughts.

“Right now for the last 18 months we’ve been averaging between 20 and 30 evaluations per month, which is just outrageous,” said Devon Corpus, crisis team supervisor.

A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says students who are bullied are more likely to bring a weapon to school. The study estimates 250,000 U.S. high school students carry guns, knives or clubs.

Corpus has seen that study play out right in front of her crisis team, she said five kids said they planned to bring knives to school just this week.

“None of these kids that are coming to us have plans or intentions to hurt other people,” Corpus said. “They’re really on the defense and it seems like their lacking the skills to know what else to do.”

The student who used the knife won’t be in school as the Salinas Union High School District conducts its own investigation.

The assistant superintendent told Central Coast News Wednesday it issues a handbook each year with instructions on how to report bullying to the district.

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