An assistant principal and several students were hailed as heroes today for their quick thinking after a student allegedly went on a stabbing spree inside a Murrysville, Pa., high school.
Thomas Seefeld, the Murrysville police chief, said at a news conference that an assistant principal at Franklin Regional High School tackled the 16-year-old suspect, who is now in police custody.
The police chief said he did not know the motivation for the mass stabbing but said the carnage could have been a lot worse if immediate action had not been taken.
Cole Seymour, a junior at the school, described the assistant principal as "the kind of faculty member that every student in the building could go to."
"He went out of his way to make students feel comfortable and see how they were," Seymour told ABC News.
Read More: At Least 20 Injured After Stabbings at Franklin Regional High School in Pennsylvania
Alyssa Finch, a senior at the school, which is located 15 miles east of Pittsburgh, said another student pulled a fire alarm during the mayhem "because he knew what was happening ... and he wanted the people to get out."
Finch told ABC News she also heard that yet another student helped subdue the assailant.
As many as 20 people were injured in the early morning stabbing spree at Franklin Regional High School, according to Westmoreland County emergency management spokesman Dan Stevens.
No fatalities were reported, though Stevens said at least four people suffered "serious" injuries.
