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Female student injured with knife in school fight
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A fight between female students at Bradwell Institute ended with one girl placed in a youth center and another with knife wounds.

The fight occurred Tuesday morning in the school’s hallway.

According to a police report filed by Hinesville Police Officer James Fulwood, police arrived to find one female seated in Principal Toriano Gilbert’s office along with the school counselor.

The teenager had a blackened left eye, knot on her forehead and her right cheek was reddish and swollen.

According to the report, the girl had brought a steak knife to school. She told police she did so because she feared she was going to be jumped in school by another group of girls that call themselves, “TGG.”

The girl said members of TGG had already jumped her friend Monday during a fight in their neighborhood.

She added that one member told her she was next and that it would happen at school. She said she brought the knife for protection.

The girl told police she was in a hallway at Bradwell when she spotted the girl who threatened her. The report said the other girl attacked, and she pulled out the knife in defense and lashed out trying to stab her attacker in the leg.

The girl then told police three other members of TGG jumped in the fight.

According to the report, the incident was caught on school video and the three girls could be seen punching and dragging the girl across the floor.

The video also captured school teachers and administrators intervening and attempting to pull the girls apart as they continued to fight.

One of the girls alleged to be a member of TGG did sustain puncture wounds near her ankle, upper thigh and shin. She also had superficial scratches. This girl was treated by the school nurse and placed with other administrative staff.

The teenager who brought the knife to school was sent to the Claxton Youth Detention Center, the report said.

Liberty County School System Chief Academic Officer Patti Crane issued a statement on behalf of the LCSS on Wednesday.

 “There was an altercation at Bradwell Institute involving four students stemming from a neighborhood incident,” the statement said. “One of the students was found in possession of a knife, which resulted in minor injuries to a student.  The administration and faculty responded quickly to get the situation under control and classes resumed.  Safety is the top priority for our students and the matter is being dealt with in accordance with the Liberty County School System Code of Conduct.”

However the mother of the girl who was stabbed said LCSS and school administrators didn’t do enough to protect her child or notify her of the incident. Her name is being withheld in order not to identify the daughter.

“A student came and told me my daughter was stabbed,” said the victim’s mother, who said she is a teacher at another school in the system.

“I had to get the news from a student…you know that is frightening. Your child got stabbed…and to hear it from a child you think, oh they are playing,” the mother said. “But I called my daughter and she said she had been stabbed. I dropped everything.”

The woman said when she arrived at BI she waited two hours before she got to see her daughter. “They refused to let me go in the back and they refused to let me take her to the emergency room. They treated her with the school nurse,” she said.

The woman said her daughter and friends were given 10 days out of school and will need to report to Horizons Learning Center for the remainder of the school year.

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