Edmonton high school student attacked, seven youths arrested and charged

Karanveer Sahota. Image credit: Twitter Handle of DeathNotice

Edmonton/CMEDIA: Charges and arrests of seven youths in Edmonton followed the stabbing death of a 16-year-old Edmonton high school student, Karanveer Sahota.

Sahota was attacked at a bus stop outside of McNally High School on April 8 and succumbed to a stab wound to the chest, determined by Wednesday’s autopsy.

“I want to thank the community for coming together in support of one another during this tragic loss of life…We also appreciate the assistance of those who have reached out with information to help us move forward as we continue to investigate this sensitive and complex case,” Homicide Staff Sergeant Colin Leathem has said in a media release.

No ages of the people charged were released and a spokesperson said more information will be provided when charges are finalized.

This week the president of the Edmonton Police Association said a move to pull uniformed police officers out of Edmonton Public Schools should be reconsidered following the homicide.

Staff Sgt. Michael Elliott reportedly acknowledged that although police officers were regularly preventing violence in schools, there is no guarantee that a school resource officer (SRO) would have prevented the attack on Sahota.

After studying the effectiveness of SROs in schools, a local criminologist said while some have good experiences with the officers and added that there is still a concern that the interactions are not well distributed.

#Edmonton; #HighSchoolStudent; #Attack