A Pennsylvania middle school student, a biological male who identified as a female and who is accused of beating a 12-year-old with a Stanley cup tumbler last week, allegedly attacked sheriff deputies at a hearing on Monday.
The act of violence allegedly came after a judge ruled that the student, who attends Pennbrook Middle School in the suburbs of Philadelphia, was to be held at the Montgomery County Youth Detention Center in Eagleville because of the violent attack at the school.
“The judge ordered that the juvenile be detained at the Youth Center,” Upper Gwynedd Police Chief David Duffy told the Washington Examiner in an email Monday night. “Upon hearing this, the juvenile grabbed a nearby water jug, swung it at sheriff’s deputies, and resisted being handcuffed.”
Monday’s outburst came after the student attacked a seventh grader last week in the school cafeteria, which the Washington Examiner previously reported.
Video surveillance from that day showed the victim being attacked from behind and repeatedly hit in the back of the head with a Stanley cup tumbler. The attack left “blood everywhere,” according to one student.
“I was in lunch, and all of the sudden, I hear all of this screaming and everybody running,” Emily, a student, said at a school board hearing last Thursday. “I see Mel running in after somebody, and everyone’s screaming and running.”
“The girl who got attacked didn’t see it because she was faced backwards,” Emily said.
“All of a sudden, you just hear these terrible, like, loud bangs of the Stanley bouncing off her head,” Emily said. “And then you see Mel grabbing her hair and hitting her against the table, and just repeatedly hitting her with the Stanley.”
Emily also claimed the attacker threatened to kill the victim while beating her with the Stanley cup.
“There was blood going everywhere,” Emily said. “I was at the table right behind, and all you see is blood everywhere.”
Law enforcement officers and school district administration officials identified the victim as a girl but refused to specify whether the attacker was male or female. The assailant was later identified as a transgender student by parents and other adults who spoke at a school board hearing after the attack.
Additionally, Alyssa Santiago, a mother to a student at the middle school, discussed on Philadelphia’s Chris Stigall Show that the attacker was known to be a biological male, the Washington Examiner reported. Santiago explained that photos from previous yearbooks showed the student as a boy before transitioning to a girl.
The identities of the victim and the attacker are being withheld because they are minors.
The attacker was charged as a juvenile, Duffy said. It remains to be seen what, if any, other legal consequences the attacker will face because of the act of violence against the law enforcement officers.
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“Whether the juvenile receives additional charges for that is up to the sheriff’s department and DA’s office,” Duffy said.
A rally was planned for Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. outside Pennbrook Middle School in response to the attack.
