PITTSBURGH — A day after police say Anthony Taulton stabbed three students inside Carrick High School, his mother sat down with Channel 11 to explain his side of the story.
PHOTOS: Multiple students stabbed inside Carrick High School
“I don’t think my son woke up and said, ‘I’m gonna get this knife and stab these people,’” said Taulton’s mother.
She told us that her son was added to a group chat on social media where he was bullied and threatened.
“He said I don’t want to go to school, they put me in a group chat last night, and they said they’re going to jump me,” she told us.
She ended up taking her son to school, and after she dropped him off, she spoke to a security guard.
“I told her, ’Good morning. My son is in school, and I don’t know if this is true, but he said they put him in a group chat and said they’re gonna jump him when he comes to school.’ She said, ‘Is it the same kids?’ And I told her, ‘Yes.’”
She’s referring to an incident that happened a few weeks ago, when she says her son got into a scuffle with another student, which prompted a meeting with school officials.
She claims the most recent threats were from the same group of friends.
What she says she didn’t know is that police say Taulton grabbed a kitchen knife before leaving home, and wrapped it in a hat and put it inside his book bag.
When he got to school, security checked the bag while Taulton went through metal detectors but missed the weapon.
“He wasn’t trying to hurt nobody. That’s all he keeps saying. He was trying to defend himself,” she added.
Once Taulton was in school, his mom tells us another student yelled something to him in the hallway, Taulton showed the knife, and they went after him, which was caught on cell phone video.
One of the teens was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
“He’s wrong for taking the knife to school. If they wouldn’t have added him to that chat or did any of the stuff they’re saying that in there, I don’t think he would have went with a knife.”
Taulton’s mother said her goal is to get her son a bond hearing in the next 48 hours.
Channel 11 asked Pittsburgh Public Schools about the security guard who missed the knife. They said they are still employed.
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