Knife attack at Capitol Hill leaves some parents in fear

By Augie Frost, Michael Kimball and Wendy K. Kleinman
Staff Writers

After a fight that sent a Capitol Hill High School student to the hospital with stab wounds Thursday, students and parents are left to wonder if the halls of Oklahoma City schools are safe.



The fight broke out about 10:30 a.m. in a hallway between two 15-year-old students. The victim, Melchor Pena Jr., was taken to OU Medical Center and is expected to survive, police Capt. Steve McCool said.

Hector Escalante was arrested on a complaint of felony assault with a deadly weapon by a campus police officer, McCool said. The school was locked down after the fight.

Students were afraid
Sean Pearl, a 17-year-old junior at the school, said he saw the fight and he and his classmates immediately feared for their safety.


"I was scared,” Pearl said. "After they put us on lockdown, I got a teacher to let me go to the bathroom so I could call him (my dad) and get him to come get me. I heard people saying they were going to come up here (to the school) with guns and stuff like that.”

Pearl said the sudden and swift attack was carried out with a penknife.

"I saw a guy put a bandana over his face, and then he ran up behind the guy (the victim), stabbed him five times in the back, once in the side, once in the arm and slashed his neck open,” Pearl said.

Pearl was back on campus Thursday evening with his father, Henry Pearl, to attend a student-parent-teacher conference. Henry Pearl said he didn't feel like his son was safe at Capitol Hill. But with little more than a year left for Sean in high school, Henry said he didn't think there was much else that could be done to protect his son before his schooling ends.

"I just pray,” the elder Pearl said. "I pray a lot.”
Officials first believed Pena had been jumped by several gang members. After questioning witnesses, it was determined Pena and Escalante were fighting each other and a crowd circled around them, so it appeared there was more than one person involved.

How is security affected?
The stabbing happened in the main building of the high school's campus, said Oklahoma City School District spokeswoman Kathleen Kennedy.


There are metal detectors at that building's front entrance, which Kennedy said she believes are used every morning. However, that entrance is not the only way into the building.
"During passing time is the only time that there's a back door that's opened for the students to pass to and from the other four buildings,” she said.

Henry Pearl said the security measures do little to put him and other parents at ease.

"The security does need to be beefed up here,” he said. "I'm at wits end. I hated to even have to send my son to this school because of the name it's made for itself. I grew up in Midwest City in the '70s and I knew about Capitol Hill. It's only gotten worse.”

Thursday, students had a modified lunch, meaning they were allowed to go to lunch in small groups and for shorter periods of time. The school will operate under lockdown again today, with additional police on campus, Kennedy said.
Police were investigating Thursday. McCool would not say if gangs or violence are widespread at the school.

I wonder if this is one of the "many more things outside of whats considered your typical good education" that were mentioned in another post? Well, I supposed knife-fighting is a handy skill to learn. It's like a vo-tech class for the inner-city.

Fencing anyone? Target practice? Archery?

Really shouldn't joke about this subject, it's horrible to send your kids to school knowing something might happen to them there. I can't believe they have metal detectors and still got a knife in?

It's sad and something needs to be done.

Good Lord.

I saw a cat attack a rabbit once that sounded like that. I know, I sound like I am making light of it but I'm not. I saw that attack nearly ten years ago and am still utterly shocked at the violence. It is awful it is to see one creature ambush and really try to hurt another. It evokes an incredibly viseral reaction.

Hope the kid will be fine.

I never knew that OKC or any school district had metal detectors ... that is very disturbing to me.

Is it only this particular school?

It's Capitol Hill, and it's over-run with gang members. It was only a matter of time. I hate to be so jaded, but that's the way it is.

There are probably other schools with detectors, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.

My ole alma mater..........:sofa:
Glad to see things havent changed in 37 years.
Still got the scar on my leg from my little situation..............:tiphat:

As far as I know all OKC secondary schools have metal detectors and have had them for at least 12 years, and not all of them are the walk through kind like at airports. Getting a pen knife in to a school is not really that hard to do if they put it in a notebook/trapper keeper.

Plus this campus has four buildings that are not attached to it. The students have to walk back and forth to these buildings to get to their classes. All you have to do is:
1. Place weapon outside school before school starts.
2. Pickup weapon between first and second class
3. Carry weapon around school all day

I was in Junior High during the Vietnam War. There was a lot of racial turmoil fueled, in part, by the fact that the draft impacted lots of black kids who weren't getting college exemptions. There were a number of stabbings during that time in the high school. The school I went to was 98% black and emotions were very high, as you might imagine. I'm not aware of any stabbings or things of that nature at my school. It was an interesting experience being a minority for several years. I will say this, it doesn't matter what color you are, being a minority sucks. It sucks but also gives you a chance to get to know people as people if you don't get killed, first (got the crap beat out of me several days a week for nearly a year before I was accepted).