Mass Stabbing Suspect Alex Hribal's Mental State To Be Evaluated

MURRYSVILLE, Pa. (AP) — The legal fate of the 16-year-old boy accused of stabbing or slashing 21 fellow students and a security guard at his high school will probably pivot more on his mental state than his tender age, attorneys say.

The sheer number of victims won't preclude him from being treated as a juvenile, something that would assure his freedom by age 21, lawyers say.

Alex Hribal's attorney is seeking a psychiatric evaluation and will seek to have his client transferred to juvenile court. To get the case moved, the attorney will have to show Hribal has a better chance of rehabilitation in the juvenile system than in adult court.

"Now once it's determined what his mental health issues are, if any, that'll go a long way in determining, I would assume, what a judge would do here," said the attorney, Patrick Thomassey. "Why would a 16-year-old who has no history of anything just take two knives from a drawer and go to school and start stabbing people?"

Authorities say Hribal took the knives to the 1,200-student Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, east of Pittsburgh, on Wednesday and randomly attacked other students in a crowded hallway just before the start of classes. The rampage stopped when an assistant principal tackled him.

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