1 injured, taken to hospital after stabbing at Northern High School; lockdown lifted

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- Northern High School in Durham was put under lockdown because of a stabbing that happened at the school, according to Durham Police Department.

It happened just before 11 a.m. Officials insinuated that a sort of fight broke out at the school and one person used what's believed to have been a knife to stab at least one other person.

Durham Sheriff Clarence Birkhead confirmed at least one person was injured and had to be taken to the hospital for treatment. Multiple people were taken into custody and questioned.

Birkhead said the investigation is still ongoing. He did not confirm how many people were involved in the fight or if they were all students.

Northern High School resumed normal operation around 1 p.m.

"Kids are safe here at Northern," Birkhead said. "We're going to continue to work together and continue to be prepared because these things will happen unfortunately. Schools are not immune to violence or any incident of this nature. So that is why it is important that we ensure our public and our parents and our students, that we are going to do everything that we can to make sure that they are safe."

Chopper 11 flew over the school around 11:30 a.m. Outside of the school were multiple State Highway Patrol cruisers, Durham County Sheriff's Office vehicles and an ambulance.

"I'm not going to call this normal because any time there's an incident like this happen, we've got to make sure that there's trauma and our students need support," Superintendent Dr. Pascal Mubenga said during a media briefing.

Mubenga said more counselors will be available on campus on Tuesday.

"I mean, it being the second week of school, I wouldn't expect a fight happening every day. Um, the second week, the first day of the week we get a lockdown. Yeah, so I'm not really happy about it," senior Christopher Holden said.

Northern High School is the newest school in Durham Public Schools. It just opened its doors to students for the first time after a delay.

The delay to opening came from an issue with the building's backflow preventer, a valve that protects the water supply from contamination as well as a second delay due to Idalia.

Parts of the school are still works in progress. The school's auditorium and athletic fields are not finished, but school officials point out that those are not needed to allow occupancy by students and staff.