Two students critically injured in a stabbing and slashing rampage at a high school have been upgraded to fair condition, the hospitals where they are recovering said Friday.
Jared Boger, 17, remained at UPMC Presbyterian hospital in Pittsburgh. Two students at Forbes Regional Hospital in Monroeville were in fair condition by late Friday, and one remained in critical condition, the hospital said in a statement.
Doctors had said Boger appeared to be the most seriously injured after a fellow student at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville was accused of slashing and stabbing his way down a school hallway with two kitchen knives just before classes began April 9.
Alex Hribal, 16, is charged as an adult with multiple counts of attempted homicide and aggravated assault and a school weapons violation. He faces a preliminary hearing April 30, though his attorney said he intends to waive that probable cause proceeding.
Authorities have yet to determine a motive for the knife attack.
Meanwhile, officials at the school are seeking a waiver of a state law requiring students to attend 180 days of school annually.
Students missed four days of attendance because of the stabbings. With five days missed earlier in the year because of snow, the school stands to fall short of the 180-day mark.
The state Department of Education must approve the attendance waiver, though spokesman Tim Eller suggested that won't be a problem in this case.
Pennsylvania “allows a waiver for when a school closes -- for pipes bursting, a boiler breaking -- for something that impacts a building in a district,” Eller said. “Something that the building can't be used for or, in this case, for the recovery of a community.”
