Rutherford Student, 14, Stabbed Principal Several Times: Police

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A 14-year-old Rutherford student was taken into custody Friday morning after he stabbed a principal several times during graduation rehearsal, police said.

Police responded to Washington School on Wood Street at 9:30 a.m. on a report of a student stabbing a teacher, police said.

The victim, Union School Principal Kurt Schweitzer, was leading the Union School's eighth-grade rehearsal in the gymnasium when the student ran across the gym and stabbed him in the chest several times, police said. The weapon was a folding knife, they said.

The student then turned around, dropped the knife, and put his hands in the air, police said. A teacher secured the knife and walked the student outside where Officer Michael Merli took him into custody, authorities said.

No one else was attacked, police said.

Schweitzer suffered injuries that were not life-threatening. Members of the Rutherford Ambulance Corps treated him and the student at the school, police said.

Detective Sgt. Michael Garner is investigating what happened.

The student is in police custody. He was charged with two counts of aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and unlawful possession of a weapon.

"The Rutherford Police Department is confident there are no remaining threats to any students or faculty," police said in a statement. "However, given today’s events, the Rutherford Police Department will have a presence at Wednesday night’s graduation."

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com