San Juan, Puerto Rico—A 14-year-old-girl went on a playground rampage with a hypodermic needle, stabbing 37 classmates, local officials said on Thursday.
“She stabbed one, ran, stabbed another, ran again—she made it seem like it was some sort of joke,” Education Secretary Jesus Sanchez about Thursday’s lunchtime attack on 12 to 14-year-olds at the Jose de Choudens middle school in the southern coastal town of Arroyo.
Margarita Casalduc, a spokeswoman for the National Health Department said it was unclear if the syringe contained any carcinogens as further tests were needed to determine contamination levels.
The victims, who were accompanied by their mortified parents, gathered at a convention center to be tested for hepatitis C and HIV as precautionary measures. Sanchez said counselors were also helping the victims and their parents cope with the bizarre attacks.
Fidel Rodriguez, spokesman for the Justice Department, said that social workers are interviewing the alleged attacker to determine a motive. The girl, who has been suspended from school, initially claimed said she found the syringe, but later admitted to stealing it while visiting a relative at a hospital. Rodriguez said it was not clear why she decided to attack her classmates.
