Boy, 16, still in critical condition after school stabbing; three teens charged

UPDATE: 16-year-old who had 'a bright future ahead of him' dies after stabbing near Montreal-area school

A 16-year-old boy who was stabbed near a Montreal high school Tuesday afternoon is in critical condition but stable, according to Montreal police, and three teenage suspects have been arrested.

A second boy was also sent to hospital with stab wounds but his life is not in danger.

Police say a dispute between two groups of people at about 2:40 pm led to the first boy’s stabbing on Broadview Ave. near John Fisher Avenue in Pointe-Claire. 

Prior to the incident, the suspects were all known to each other but not to police, officers said.

“According to the first information that we received, it was an altercation between two groups and while the altercation was ongoing, the victim was injured in the upper body by a sharp object," said Montreal police spokesperson Veronique Comtois.

A driver passing by saw the victim and picked him up to help him, but first responders then arrived and rushed him to the hospital.

As of Wednesday midday, the boy remains in critical condition with stab wounds to the upper body, police said, though he's now considered stable.

One of the boys arrested, age 16, appeared in court on Wednesday and has a bail hearing set for Thursday morning.

The other two accused, ages 16 and 17, were released on the promise to appear at a later date.

Seven charges have been laid in total: two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault, one count of possession of a weapon, one count conspiracy to commit murder, an one count of conspiracy to commit assault.

The scene is next to St-Thomas High School, although police say the stabbing took place off school property, on the street.

A first person was reported arrested around 6 p.m., and police later said they'd arrested two others. 

Late at night, police said they'd learned new information: that a second teenager, age 15, was also in hospital to treat injuries caused by a sharp object. His injuries aren't life threatening.

"Investigative elements suggest that there is a link between this victim and the events in Pointe-Claire," said Comtois, but investigators haven't yet been able to clarify the nature of his involvement, she said.

The Lester B. Pearson School Board said it could not confirm if the first victim was a student of the school, but did say that some of the students involved were from St-Thomas. 

The school will be closed on Wednesday in wake of the attack. School board spokesperson Darren Becker said earlier Tuesday that classes would resume as normal, with support available for anyone who witnessed the event or who needs counselling. But later in the evening, parents were notified in an email that the school will be closed as the investigation continues.

Some students did witness the event, or at least the immediate aftermath, one student told CTV News.

"The teachers were only saying it was some kind of commotion. I walked by the window and it's just a mess of buses and students at the window," said one Grade 8 student at St-Thomas.

"I didn't know what was happening, so I turned around and went back to what I was doing. And then after I heard everyone was crying and someone actually got hurt."

The incident comes after a spate of violence, much of it fatal, involving Montreal teenagers.

In late October another 16-year-old, Jannai Dopwell-Bailey, was stabbed to death outside his high school in Cote-des-Neiges. Police also arrested and charged teenagers in that case, including one minor.

Thomas Trudel, also 16, was fatally shot in St-Michel in late November.

More recently, 17-year-old Amir Benayad died after being shot on a corner in the Plateau.

Police say anyone with information on Tuesday's stabbing is urged to call 911 or reach out anonymously and confidentially to Info-Crime at 514-393-1133.

--With files from CTV Montreal's Luca Caruso-Moro, Max Harrold and Angela Mackenzie, and from The Canadian Press