Foss High School stabbing suspect pleads not guilty; transferred from previous school over similar issues

The 16-year-old accused of stabbing four students and a security guard at Foss High School in Tacoma on Thursday has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree assault, with a sentencing enhancement for use of a deadly weapon.

Waleed Essakhi was charged as an adult, and his bail was set at $750,000. He has been ordered to have no contact with the victims.

Prosecutors said he is a “threat to the community.”

Foss High School stabbing suspect appears in court. (Photo: James Lynch, KIRO Newsradio)

Court documents shed light on Foss High School mass stabbing

Court documents obtained by KIRO Newsradio and MyNorthwest provided more details on Essakhi and what led up to the mass stabbing.

The security guard told authorities he was in the principal’s office when he heard a call for help in the hallway. He and the principal ran to the hallway and saw a school staff member and a group of kids fighting. The security guard approached the kids and tried to pull them apart as they continued to fight. The security guard reached down to try to grab Essakhi, but was allegedly cut by Essakhi’s knife. The security guard then disarmed Essakhi and handed the knife to a staff member.

The security guard said Essakhi apologized to him and was afraid the security guard would be mad at him. The security guard, who suffered a cut to his left forearm, said he believes he was accidentally stabbed by Essakhi.

One of the victims told authorities he was with his brother in the downstairs section of the school. The victim got a call from another friend, who said he was about to get in a fight with a kid who was “clutching.”

The victim and his brother went to the hallway and saw that Essakhi was holding an unknown object in his pocket, but didn’t think it was a gun. He also said Essakhi kept getting in their “bubble” and, at one point, got too close to his brother, so they started “bombing” him.

The victim said he felt something wet, and looked down and saw he was bleeding. Court documents stated that the victim had a significant cut on his left forearm that would require surgery.

Mass stabbing allegedly stemmed from stolen vape pen

Another victim told authorities that all four of the victims had an issue with Essakhi regarding an incident that had happened the day before at a nearby skate park. The victim’s friend told the victim that Essakhi had stolen from him. The victim’s friend also told the victim to confront Essakhi about it. The victim told authorities he didn’t know what Essakhi stole, but that he and the three victims confronted Essakhi anyway.

The victim suffered a cut lip, puncture wounds to his left and right chest, a knot on his head, a cut on the back of his left hand and arm, and a stab wound to his abdomen.

Another victim said he and the other three victims were talking to Essakhi when Essakhi tried to get in one of the victims’ faces. Essakhi allegedly told the victim to hit him and then shoved the victim, who pushed him back. Video surveillance showed Essakhi was “egging them on” and was slapping his own face and bouncing back and forth.

Essakhi allegedly punched one of the victims in the face, and then everyone started punching. Essakhi then allegedly started stabbing them.

One of the victims told authorities that over FaceTime, Essakhi called the victims gang members, but the victim denied being a member of a gang. That victim was stabbed in the back.

That victim also told authorities that he heard Essakhi stole a vape pen from the previously mentioned friend.

Stabbing suspect transferred from previous school over fighting, mother says

Essakhi had transferred from Clover Park High School in Lakewood in January over similar issues. Essakhi’s mother told authorities her son was being jumped and getting into fights, so he transferred for a fresh start. According to court documents, in the Lakewood incident, Essakhi was swinging a belt at other students but was otherwise unarmed.

Essakhi’s mother also told authorities she heard the fight was over a vape pen, but said her son was acting normally that morning and didn’t know of any issues he had at school. She denied that her son was in a gang or affiliated with one. When asked about her son having a knife at school, she said her older son told her that Essakhi had a pocketknife, which matched the description of the knife the security guard removed.

The four victims are in stable condition, per the latest report.

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