The 16-year-old boy accused of stabbing 22 of his Pennsylvania school mates will be charged as an adult, law enforcement authorities said Thursday.
Alex Hribal will face four charges of attempted homicide and 21 counts of aggravated assault, NBC News reported.
HIs parents, meanwhile, send their condolences to the victims and families, but also say through their attorney that they’re puzzled by their son’s behavior because he’s never shown any need for psychiatric treatment.
Patrick Thomassey, the family’s attorney, said they all ate dinners together each night and that Alex was also a good student who got along with others, ABC News reported.
“His parents are devastated and send their condolences to everybody involved,” Mr. Thomassey told ABC News. “They can’t figure it out.”
Mr. Thomassey’s description of Alex differs from what students at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville say about him. Classmates called him quiet and someone who kept to himself, Fox News reported.
Morgan Ritchey, who said she had a class with Alex, characterized him as “a little misunderstood” and someone she felt always “had a different side to him that nobody knew,” ABC News reported.
Alex, a sophomore at the school, is accused of taking two 8- to 10-inch “kitchen-type” knives and slashing 22 victims as he strode through the school hallways.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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