Two injured in stabbing at Castor Gardens Middle School

Police are investigating after two employees were injured in a stabbing at a Northeast Philadelphia middle school Tuesday afternoon.

Police responded to Castor Gardens Middle School on the 1800 block of Cottman Avenue just past noon after receiving a report of a person with a weapon. Officers arrived to find a 63-year-old woman who had been stabbed in the left side of her body, and a 31-year-old woman who had been stabbed in her right arm, police said.

The older woman was taken to an area hospital “out of an abundance of caution” and was expected to be released after treatment, School District of Philadelphia spokesperson Monique Braxton said. The younger woman refused medical treatment.

Both women are employees of the school. Their injuries were not life-threatening.

Police arrested a suspect, and a weapon was recovered. The suspect, Braxton said, is a special-needs student at the school.

Following the stabbing, the school was placed into lockdown for about 90 minutes, Braxton added. Operations returned to normal just before 2 p.m., though some parents came early to pick up their children after the school notified its community of the situation.