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Judge weighing juvenile court for teen in mass stabbing

GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A hearing for a teen who stabbed 20 classmates and a security guard at his western Pennsylvania high school ended Tuesday without a judge ruling whether he'll be tried as an adult.

Alex Hribal is now 18. He was 16 at the time of the April 2014 attacks at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville.

His attorney acknowledges Hribal committed the attacks using two kitchen knives.

Westmoreland County prosecutors want to try Hribal as an adult, which would open him to possibly decades in prison if convicted.

The staff members who recounted the events of that day in court Tuesday support that bid.

Assistant Principal Joan Mellon told the judge,"I saw the knives and I just thought, 'I have to get them.'"

James Passarelli, a science teacher who saw three of the most wounded students fought back tears as he testified.

“I thought he (the victim) was dead. He wasn’t moving,” Passarelli said. “I felt a sense of relief when he opened his eyes.”

The defense says Hribal's mental health issues are better dealt with in juvenile court, where Hribal can be supervised or incarcerated only until he's 21. A prosecution psychiatrist testified Tuesday there's no guarantee Hribal can be successfully treated by then.

The judge will rule early next year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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