Memorial grows outside Northside High School following stabbing death of student

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - Flowers as well as pleas for a stop to violence make up a growing memorial outside of a high school that saw a student killed just a day prior.

The bouquets and posters adorn the Northside High School sign in Jacksonville.

One of the posters reads, “How much more can we take! This needs to end now! RIP”

Jacksonville police are investigating the stabbing death that has seen two 16-year-olds and one 15-year-old facing juvenile petitions. One of the 16-year-olds is accused of voluntary manslaughter in the death.

WITN has spent most of Friday making multiple requests for the name of the student killed under North Carolina public records law. Jacksonville police told WITN that in consultation with the district attorney’s office they are refusing to release the slain teenager’s name under juvenile identity protections – a stance WITN disagrees with.

WITN has also obtained an incident report from Thursdays attack. On the report, a box that reads “Gang Relat” is filled in “YES.” When asked if Thursday’s attack was gang related, a police spokesperson responded, “On our end, this is still very much an active and ongoing investigation. Therefore, we cannot state at this time whether or not it was gang related.”

A narrative on the report reads: “On September 1, 2022, at approximately 07:02 hours, I, Officer Rohrer, School Resource Officer for Northside High School, Onslow County Public School, located at 365 Commons Dr. S., responded to a fight on campus.”

Another student was also stabbed in the attack and taken to Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune. We do not know their condition.

Do you see something needing a correction? Email us!