(Video courtesy of WHYY Newsworks)
A 16-year-old girl was killed in an altercation Thursday morning at Howard High School of Technology in Wilmington.
WHYY Newsworks reported that Sgt. Andrea Janvier with the Wilmington Police Department confirmed the assault took place on school grounds around 8:15 a.m., before the first period of the day.
Janvier said the girl was flown to A.I. duPont Children’s Hospital in critical condition, where she was later pronounced dead. Police are conducting several interviews and are expected to be at the school for several hours.
Classes for the day have been canceled and students were dismissed early.
The News Journal reported the attack took place in the women’s bathroom and that a number of students were being questioned.
WHYY was scheduled to host a Wilmington mayoral debate on public safety at the school in partnership with the News Journal. The debate was canceled.
The incident also came as high school vocational students were being honored a short distance away at the EDiS Institute. The institute , sponsored by the Wilmington-based construction management company.
The tragedy comes more than a year after the Newsweek story, Murdertown USA was published and started a debate over the future of the city that is seeing a high homicide rate, while also undergoing a wave of development in downtown and the Riverfront.
Wilmington Mayor Dennis Williams remains at odds with state officials in providing police deplloyment data in exchange for a grant for an added police presence. He faces a host of candidates in the upcoming primary.
