FIFE, Wash. — It was a moment of confusion and concern in Fife as parents like Ida waited to pick up their elementary school students.
"When I pulled into the school, I saw a bunch of cops in this area and honestly, I didn't know what was going on. My son comes to the elementary here so I didn't know if it was something regarding the school itself or something out here," said Ida.
Fife High School students had just been let out of class when the police department started receiving calls of an assault and robbery on Thursday, Sept. 28.
"Students were everywhere, we had students outside the building at the high school and then we had parents lined up to pick up their children," said Assistant Chief of Police Aaron Gardner.
That's when Gardner said the suspect went up to a group of students unprovoked, assaulting one student so badly that the suspect broke the student's tooth, Gardner said.
Police said students reported the suspect was swinging a knife at them.
"Trying to injure or kill or hurt the people that he was attacking. Again random, there was no rhyme or reason for it, it came out of nowhere for these kids," said Gardner.
The suspect reportedly also stole another student's backpack. Police chased the suspect through the high school and then entered into the adjacent Fife elementary school parking lot, Gardner said.
The elementary school's parking lot is where police used a Taser and arrested a 14-year-old boy.
"I think the biggest one for me is just how young this kid was and the complete disregard for the health and safety of others," said Gardner.
Fife Public Schools sent a letter to parents last week which only stated that an "incident occurred between school-aged students" and that everyone is safe.
But parents, like Ida, are left wondering if their kids are actually safe.
"It's just getting to the point now where it's getting out of control," Ida said. "There's no safety for them. It's scarier now with younger kids getting into all this violence."
The teen faces four charges in juvenile court including robbery, two assault charges and obstructing a police officer.