Teen charged in Bolingbrook High stabbing

A 15-year-old student is in custody facing charges of aggravated battery after allegedly stabbing another student in what police say was a gang-related fight Tuesday at Bolingbrook High School.

The student has been transported to River Valley Juvenile Detention Center in Joliet until a judge hears the case, Bolingbrook police Lt. Mike Rompa said.

"It's a rare, unfortunate incident that reached the point where tensions started flaring," Rompa said. "They made a wrong decision."

Initial interviews with students and surveillance video from the school allowed police to identify the alleged assailant. He was picked up near his home.

The incident apparently followed an exchange of gang signs Monday evening off the high school campus.

At 7:15 a.m. Tuesday, the school's liaison officers saw a male student bleeding and running south on Schmidt Road from the school toward Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital. When they stopped him, they saw several stab wounds and escorted him to the hospital.

Rompa said the victim remained hospitalized Tuesday following minor surgery.

"With the gang issue, you get some kids that need the attention," he said. "They feel they have to step up to the plate and this is what happens."

The incident prompted what district officials called a "soft lockdown" for about two hours. The condition calls for classroom doors to be locked and students to remain in the building. Teachers were allowed to continue with lesson plans. The lockdown ended at 9:35 a.m.

The victim was stabbed in a second-floor bathroom and police requested the lockdown to give them time to investigate, said Valley View District 365U's community relations director Larry Randa.

Randa said other students and staff were never in danger. The school kept parents updated throughout the morning at its Twitter account, which was just approved by the school board Monday. The address is www.twitter.com/VVSD365U.