Scarborough school officials are assisting in the investigation and offering support to students following a stabbing Friday that injured a student in a parking lot at Scarborough High School.
Superintendent Julie Kukenberger emailed a letter to the school community Tuesday morning, after a news story about the stabbing was published in the Portland Press Herald.
Nicolas “Nico” Blanchard, 20, of Scarborough has been charged with stabbing a 15-year-old boy in the lower parking lot of the high school Friday night during halftime of a school soccer game over a supposed $20 debt, according to court documents.
Warning that “this news is unexpected and may be upsetting,” Kukenberger said school staff members have taken steps to assist in the investigation and support the victim and other students at the high school.
“Over the weekend, per our protocol, Principal Ketch reached out to the victim and his family and worked with district leadership to create a network of support as we continued to gather additional facts and support the student,” Kukenberger said.
“As we prepare for upcoming games, please know that we have school administrators, event staff and Scarborough police officers on site to monitor the safety of students and spectators,” Kukenberger continued. “However, we need everyone’s support to ensure that children attending all SHS athletic events are supervised.”
Kukenberger also noted that school counselors and social workers are available to provide support to all students and she provided a link to tips from the National Association for School Psychologists on “Talking to Children About Violence.”
Blanchard was being held Tuesday at the Cumberland County Jail on $1,000 bail. He is accused of rushing toward the victim and stabbing him in the chest before running off, according to police reports filed in Cumberland County Unified Criminal Court.
Neither police nor Kukenberger have identified the victim, though she said he “sustained a wound that required medical attention.”
Blanchard is charged with one count of aggravated assault and one count of violating conditions of release from a previous charge. He was arrested in September for criminal trespass at the Maine Mall, according to the State Bureau of Identification.
Superior Court Justice Andrew Horton also ordered Blanchard to comply with a Maine pretrial contract, stay off town-owned property in Scarborough, not possess knives or blades and submit to random searches.
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