A 20-year-old San Leandro man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon after a stabbing at a school for high-needs students in West Berkeley on Tuesday.
The school administrator who was stabbed — who received injuries to the neck and head — has been treated and released from the hospital, police said. Authorities described the woman’s injuries Tuesday as non-life-threatening. Berkeley Police spokesman Sgt. Andrew Frankel said she was released from the hospital Tuesday night.
The woman has been described by some as the school principal. BPD has said she is staff there, but has not confirmed her exact position. The man who was arrested has been identified as a student at the school.
Angel Juarez, described over the police scanner as autistic, remains in custody at Berkeley Jail, where he is being held without bail, according to online records from the Alameda County sheriff’s office.
Juarez is scheduled for arraignment Thursday at 9 a.m. at the Wiley Manuel Courthouse in downtown Oakland.
BPD got the call about the stabbing shortly before 2 p.m. Tuesday, then searched for Juarez for about an hour before catching up with him in Albany, where the California Highway Patrol had stopped him on Buchanan Street near Interstate 80.
Juarez did not have the knife used in the stabbing with him when he was detained, but police later found it not far from the school during the subsequent investigation.
Police described the weapon Tuesday as a large knife, and said Juarez fled with it when he ran from the school, the Via Center at 2126 Sixth St. The facility is a non-profit school, for students from 5-22 years old, that “provides educational and behavioral intervention for a wide range of students with intensive needs.”
During the search, police issued a “shelter in place” warning to the community, and described Juarez as “armed and dangerous.”
Police searched the Marina, Aquatic Park, and various locations in West Berkeley before the CHP picked up Juarez near the highway.
The Via Center has not responded to requests for comment.
