20 Wounded In Multiple Stabbings At Pennsylvania High School

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http://video.foxnews.com/v/3449256001001/male-student-in-custody-after-school-stabbing-spree/#sp=watch-live

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DEVELOPING:  Twenty students were wounded — four seriously — during a stabbing spree at a high school near Pittsburgh and one person is in custody early Wednesday, authorities say.

As word of the incident spread and children streamed out of the school, parents expressed shock at the attack.

“Nobody’s ever prepared for something like that as a parent,” Matt Provenzo, who had dropped his son, Mark, off at Franklin Regional High School moments after the attack, told FoxNews.com. "As he got out of the car, you could see students exiting the building and that the fire alarm was pulled … There were a few students who were visibly upset."

Another parent, Tim Graham, told FoxNews.com he picked up his daughter, who was safe. But some of her friends were among those injured, he told FoxNews.com.

“She is with me and she was very close to the incident and a couple of her friends are stabbed," Graham said. "It could've very easily been my daughter."

Dan Stevens, a spokeswoman for Westmoreland County emergency management, said a male student was in custody following the incident inside the school. It came at approximately 7:20 a.m., before classes began at the school in an affluent community about 15 miles east of Pittsburgh. 

Four of the victims were taken to area hospitals via helicopter. Those injured were between 14 and 17 years old, Stevens said, adding that not all of them were stabbed or slashed with a knife.

The overwhelming majority of students evacuated in a "remarkably orderly fashion," said Provenzo, whose son was not injured.

"I saw one or two [students] who were visibly upset," Provenzo told FoxNews.com.

A doctor said some victims suffered injuries classified as life-threatening, although all are expected to survive. Dr. Chris Kaufman said two victims were in the operating room and one was awaiting surgery at nearby Forbes Regional Medical Center.

Reese Jackson, the hospital's president and CEO, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that one of the victims may have saved the life of another.

“A surgeon came out and congratulated one of the victims by saying she had saved the person’s life by applying pressure to the person’s wound,” Jackson told the newspaper.

Graham said the attacker, whom he did not identify, had been a victim of bullying. 

"My point is this could’ve been avoided," Graham said, adding that his daughter had been assaulted at the school. "That's my personal opinion.”

Roberta Cook, a Franklin Regional School Board director and member of the safety committee, said the local schools have well-practiced procedures in place for such events. Cook said she was awaiting a briefing on the incident, but had heard that no one had been killed. 

"But I'm just glad it wasn't a shooter, because if it had been a shooter, there would have been fatalities," Cook, whose children attended the school, told FoxNews.com.

A person may have ran through the school slashing or puncturing students with a knife or other sharp object, according to early reports cited by The Associated Press. One witness told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the suspect was tackled by assistant principal Sam King.

One witness told KDKA.com that the stabbings took place in the science wing of the school. A parent of a student at the school said his daughter pulled a fire alarm during the incident.

"She reported to me it was a 10th grade student,” Tim Graham told KDKA.com.

School officials did not immediately return messages seeking comment. Parents have been notified and may pick up their children at the school.

"A critical incident has occurred at the high school," a message on the school district's website reads. "All elementary schools are cancelled, the middle school and high school students are secure. Additional information will be released as soon as possible. Please keep our campus clear of traffic."