Middle School Student Stabbed Under Eye

A 14-year-old student at Brewer Middle School in White Settlement said he was stabbed underneath his eye during an altercation before school Wednesday.

Zarek Sutherland said he thought the classmate that attacked him with a knife was simply trying to hit him in the stomach with his fist.

"I hit his hand, and he cut me right there," Zarek said as he pointed to two stitches just below his brow on his right eye, which had turned black and blue.

Witnesses said the attacker used a small kitchen knife.

Zarek said the boy ran off after the attack. MedStar transported Zarek to a local hospital. 

White Settlement police later arrested a 14-year-old boy in connection with the stabbing. Police said he will be charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Zarek said he didn't know why the boy attacked him.

But Zarek's father, Michael Sutherland, said there has been bad blood between the two boys in the past. He said he thought it had all smoothed over.

Sutherland said he's lucky his son didn't lose an eye.

School officials said the district’s crisis plan was in effect Wednesday morning, and that the campus was under a perimeter lockdown. Students at the school were also given an opportunity to speak with a counselor.

Several parents pulled their children out of school as a result of the altercation.

Robin Derts, the mother of an eighth-grade girl at Brewer, said she's not certain she will allow her child back on the campus.

Superintendent Audrey Arnold said the district is doing all it can to keep the students safe.

She said Wednesday the school was secure and "very calm," and students were in classes.

Arnold said a notice was sent out to all middle school parents.

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