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DA hiring doctor to study Franklin Regional stabbing suspect

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Westmoreland County district attorney has gotten court permission to hire a doctor to mentally evaluate a 16-year-old boy charged in a mass stabbing at Franklin Regional High School.

Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck said his office needs an expert to examine Alex Hribal so he can respond to a defense request to move Hribal from a juvenile detention center to a secure mental health facility.

A judge has yet to rule on that motion by Hribal's defense attorney, who claims the boy's mental condition is deteriorating and he needs psychiatric care.

Hribal is charged with stabbing 20 fellow students and a security guard at Franklin Regional High School. He's charged as an adult in the April 9 attack, but his attorney wants the moved to juvenile court.

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