Student killed in stabbing at Phoenix high school after fight escalates: Police

Posted By: Staff
August 20, 2025 @ 9:19 am
ABC National

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(NEW YORK) –A student was killed in a stabbing at a Phoenix high school on Tuesday in what school officials called a “senseless tragedy.”

The incident occurred at Maryvale High School, officials said. Officers responded to the school around 11 a.m. to a call for a stabbing, Phoenix police said.

Phoenix Commander David Saflar said the incident “started off with a fight between two students, and escalated.”

School staff notified the on-campus school safety officer, who detained one of the people involved, according to Phoenix Police Chief Matt Giordano.

Two students were transported to an area hospital, including one with life-threatening injuries, police said. A male student has since died, officials said.

“What happened today at Maryvale is truly a tragedy,” Saflar said at a press briefing Tuesday.

No additional suspects are being sought, he said.

The Phoenix Police Department is investigating the incident. No further details are being released at this time, said police, who have not provided any details on the weapon used in the stabbing or the students involved.

Authorities urged anyone with information, including any cellphone footage, to reach out to police.

Phoenix Union High School District Superintendent Thea Andrade said the district is cooperating fully with the investigation.

“Maryvale is a beautiful, resilient community and I am shocked and deeply saddened by what took place here today,” Andrade said at the press briefing, calling the incident a “senseless tragedy.”

The school will be on a modified schedule on Wednesday to provide “extensive emotional support and counseling to our students and to our staff,” Andrade said.

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego thanked the first responders and police and said more information will be released as it becomes available.

“Tomorrow, it will be a hard moment to drop a kid off at school, and so to the parents out there, know that we are working as hard as we can to make sure that schools are as safe as possible,” Gallego said at the briefing.

Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne called the deadly stabbing a “terrible tragedy.”

“Schools must be safe places,” Horne said in a statement. “This terrible incident reinforces my commitment to doing everything possible to make schools safe.”