Authorities in Ohio are searching for a man who is suspected of stabbing a 7-year-old girl on a school playground during recess Friday, leaving her seriously injured.
(FOX)- Dayton police said a 2nd-grade student was stabbed by a stranger while playing on the swings at the World of Wonder school. According to WDTN-TV, the girl remains in critical condition at Dayton Children’s Hospital.
Police describe the attacker as a black male between the ages of 18 and 20 and a little less than 6 feet tall, wearing athletic shorts and a beige or green sweatshirt over an orange shirt.
Charmine Blunt, a parent of one of the students at the school, said she was waiting inside the gym when she heard yelling and screaming outside.
“All of the sudden we just hear the kids screaming and running,” Blunt said. “We were like what’s going on what’s going on. And they said a little girl got stabbed so we all run out here to see what’s going on and it was a guy with some blue shorts on.”
Dayton Public Schools spokesman David Lawrence said the school took immediate action to protect other students in the vicinity of the attack.
“The school was immediately placed on lock-down.” Lawrence said. “Safety and security personel immediately reacted from our other surrounding schools and were on site to help support.”
A motive for the stabbing wasn’t clear. Police didn’t publicly identify the victim, who initially had been reported to be an 8-year-old girl.
Dayton schools spokeswoman Jill Moberley told the Dayton Daily News that the security guard who is usually in the school wasn’t there Friday. She said two guards quickly responded to the scene from a high school two blocks away.