Hamilton K-8 Stabbing – A 10-year-old student at Hamilton K-8 in Memphis, Tennessee, was stabbed in the back by an 11-year-old classmate during lunchtime on Friday, February 28, 2025.
The incident occurred just after 11:30 a.m. in the school’s cafeteria at 1478 Wilson Street, a K-8 campus in southwest Memphis operated by the Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) district.
According to the Memphis Police Department (MPD), the victim was rushed to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital with non-critical injuries, where she remains stable as of 3:38 p.m. CST (4:38 p.m. EST). The 11-year-old suspect was detained by police and taken into custody following the attack.
The altercation’s roots trace back to Thursday, February 27, when the two girls reportedly argued over the phone. The suspect told MPD investigators that the victim had threatened to “jump” her with friends, prompting her to bring a kitchen knife—specifically identified as a steak knife by the victim’s mother.
Tensions simmered through Friday morning’s classes and boiled over in the cafeteria, where the argument grew heated, culminating in the 11-year-old stabbing the 10-year-old once in the back. An MSCS School Board member confirmed that the suspect admitted to police she acted out of fear, though this has deepened community alarm about how such a weapon entered the school undetected.
The stabbing has thrust Hamilton K-8 into the spotlight, amplifying parental and public frustration over school safety protocols. The victim’s mother, who rushed to the campus after receiving a call, “How did a knife even get in here? This shouldn’t happen at school.”
As the victim recovers and the suspect awaits her fate, Hamilton K-8’s community grapples with the fallout, with MSCS promising updates and police continuing their probe into how a lunchtime dispute turned so dire.