Buffalo teenager stabbed to death at school says he struck first

This summer, the stabbing occurred in the city center when the person with the knife was “ambushed” by a group of about 10 people.

The teenager's mother also told police she did not know that the teenager who stabbed her son to death in July went to the same school as her son.

These new details come from a police report about the July incident and court documents obtained by The Buffalo News in the criminal case against the 15-year-old accused in the stabbing in McKinley.

“Lunch had just ended and we were walking up the stairs with my cousin. I saw him again from last time and that triggered something, so I just swung and hit him,” the 15-year-old told an investigator about Monday's stabbing. “We grabbed each other. I didn't even see him take the knife out. I didn't even feel him stab me four times.”

The injured teenager suffered stab wounds to his neck, back and arm, police said. The stabbing, which occurred around 1:10 p.m. in the stairwell of the Elmwood Avenue school, was captured by a school surveillance camera.

The 15-year-old McKinley student charged in the stabbing — whose name is listed in some court records but not identified by The News because of his age — was released in an ankle bracelet after a court appearance Tuesday. He faces charges of first-degree assault and unlawful possession of a weapon by a person under 16.

The injured teenager was in serious but stable condition at Oishei Children's Hospital. He was questioned by police at the hospital on Tuesday.

The injured teenager told the detective that during the altercation on Monday, he grabbed the other teenager by the hand in which he was holding the knife, which the Erie County District Attorney's Office said was a pocket knife.

When he felt blood, he got up, ran to the principal and told him to call an ambulance, the teenager told the detective.

He told the investigator that he recognized the person “from the last time I was with my friends after summer school.”

“One of the little guys I was with walked up to him, and first the little guy hit me, then I hit him, and then I got stabbed once,” he said of the incident two months ago.

Two people were stabbed in the incident, which occurred at about 12:30 p.m. on July 17 at the corner of Main and Mohawk streets, according to a police report obtained by Buffalo police through a Freedom of Information Law request.

“The suspect was attacked by approximately ten people,” the report said. “The suspect was repeatedly struck in the face and head.”

No charges were filed in that case because the investigation determined the stabbing was in self-defense, Buffalo Police Chief Joseph Gramaglia previously told The News.

The teenager charged in Monday's stabbing is scheduled to appear in the juvenile division of Erie County District Court on Sept. 25. He was released Tuesday after his second court appearance under supervision of the Erie County Probation Department and with an electronic ankle bracelet.

Juvenile Judge Brenda Freedman also issued a protective order ordering the teenager to stay away from the student who allegedly stabbed him.