# Stabbings at Pittsburgh high school - 20 injured **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 9, 2014, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stabbings-at-pittsburgh-high-school-20-injured/685708 "2014-04-09T13:12:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stabbings-at-pittsburgh-high-school-20-injured/685708/21 "2014-04-10T04:01:54Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > You weren’t around to hear the jokes after the Shuttle Challenger blew up, were you? > > And that was pre-Internet, when people had to be face-to-face to tell sick jokes. Or early thermal paper faxes. I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stabbings-at-pittsburgh-high-school-20-injured/685708/22 "2014-04-10T04:41:44Z")
I just hope the people who helped subdue him don’t get sued into poverty. They laid hands on a student. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stabbings-at-pittsburgh-high-school-20-injured/685708/23 "2014-04-10T07:29:25Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Plenty of kids got stabbed back then. I made a foot long knife in shop class when I was in HS. carried it around as a book marker between classes. nobody got stabbed. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stabbings-at-pittsburgh-high-school-20-injured/685708/24 "2014-04-10T10:11:56Z")
A knife can wound a lot of people but few are killed (if that’s some consolation.) The Chinese incident was unusual (27 killed by 10 knives, whoah!) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stabbings-at-pittsburgh-high-school-20-injured/685708/25 "2014-04-10T10:47:02Z")
Too bad there wasn’t a teacher armed with a knife to stop him. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stabbings-at-pittsburgh-high-school-20-injured/685708/26 "2014-04-10T11:26:07Z")
You guys are absolutely insufferable! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stabbings-at-pittsburgh-high-school-20-injured/685708/27 "2014-04-10T11:29:30Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Maybe it’s because I have sons of my own and I can’t possibly imagine the heartbreak of something happening like this to them, at least before they even have a shot at adulthood. You mean before they even have a _stab_ at adulthood. C’mon, respect the game. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stabbings-at-pittsburgh-high-school-20-injured/685708/28 "2014-04-10T13:44:47Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > You mean before they even have a _stab_ at adulthood. C’mon, respect the game. I’m not playing this silly game. I’m a cut above the rest of you heathens. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stabbings-at-pittsburgh-high-school-20-injured/685708/29 "2014-04-10T13:45:59Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I’m not playing this silly game. I’m a cut above the rest of you heathens. I agree with you any way you slice it. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stabbings-at-pittsburgh-high-school-20-injured/685708/30 "2014-04-10T13:48:47Z")
The humor in this thread is edgy, I’ll give you that. ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stabbings-at-pittsburgh-high-school-20-injured/685708/31 "2014-04-10T13:51:14Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I’m not playing this silly game. I’m a cut above the rest of you heathens. Pretty sharp! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stabbings-at-pittsburgh-high-school-20-injured/685708/32 "2014-04-10T14:23:26Z")
[I predict immediate suspension for the student wearing this shirt…](http://i1.cpcache.com/product/413210502/feeling_stabby_shirt.jpg?color=White&height=225&width=225) ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stabbings-at-pittsburgh-high-school-20-injured/685708/33 "2014-04-10T15:12:35Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > [I predict immediate suspension for the student wearing this shirt…](http://i1.cpcache.com/product/413210502/feeling_stabby_shirt.jpg?color=White&height=225&width=225) Kudos. I am a little surprised at it being Murrysville. Down Fayettenam … not even sure it would make the news. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stabbings-at-pittsburgh-high-school-20-injured/685708/34 "2014-04-10T15:51:46Z")
The ‘Amish Columbine’? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stabbings-at-pittsburgh-high-school-20-injured/685708/35 "2014-04-10T16:43:10Z")
> [@Staggerlee](#): > > The ‘Amish Columbine’? On the serious side ------ that would be the schoolhouse shootings out near Lancaster. The nutjob in question was English though. Most cases of Amish-on-Amish crime center around beards and livestock. And the odd egging here and there. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stabbings-at-pittsburgh-high-school-20-injured/685708/36 "2014-04-11T07:03:55Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > You weren’t around to hear the jokes after the Shuttle Challenger blew up, were you? > > And that was pre-Internet, when people had to be face-to-face to tell sick jokes. There was plenty of it on Usenet at the time. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stabbings-at-pittsburgh-high-school-20-injured/685708/37 "2014-04-11T11:39:19Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Too bad there wasn’t a teacher armed with a knife to stop him. The only way to stop a bad guy with a knife is with a good guy with a machete. My take is that knife attacks are infinitely preferable to gun attacks. Guy comes at you with a knife- you can run, you can duck, you can grab his arm. Guy comes at you with a gun- you die. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stabbings-at-pittsburgh-high-school-20-injured/685708/38 "2014-04-11T14:23:12Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > The only way to stop a bad guy with a knife is with a good guy with a machete. > > My take is that knife attacks are infinitely preferable to gun attacks. Guy comes at you with a knife- you can run, you can duck, you can grab his arm. Guy comes at you with a gun- you die. The news around Pittsburgh took a slightly different view - at least in terms of “taking on” or subduing the attacker. Guns you can avoid as you rush the perp and redirect once you’ve closed. Knives can lay you open or even kill you even if you have the upper hand or clear control. Not saying I agree, but that was the story. (In making a hero of the one admin guy and guard) ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stabbings-at-pittsburgh-high-school-20-injured/685708/39 "2014-04-11T15:17:08Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > My take is that knife attacks are infinitely preferable to gun attacks. Guy comes at you with a knife- you can run, you can duck, you can grab his arm. Guy comes at you with a gun- you die. It’s not nearly as straightforward as you make it. Look at it this way: the really dangerous part of a gun is a circle less than half an inch across, but that part is extremely dangerous. By contrast, at least a few inches of a knife are dangerous, but they are somewhat less dangerous than the dangerous part of a gun (though still potentially deadly). This makes knives really difficult to take away from someone, as I said above. At close range–by which I mean within about 5 to 7 feet for the average person–any move you could use successfully against a knife-wielding assailant is likely to work as well or better against an assailant with a gun. At longer ranges, of course, the equation changes…but running and ducking are still options against someone with a gun at range, and their effectiveness depends on the type of gun and the marksmanship of the shooter. When speaking of it in the abstract, rather than actually facing a guy with a knife, people tend to seriously underestimate how dangerous knives are. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stabbings-at-pittsburgh-high-school-20-injured/685708/40 "2014-04-11T22:08:44Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > When speaking of it in the abstract, rather than actually facing a guy with a knife, people tend to seriously underestimate how dangerous knives are. Also, I’d hazard a guess and say that with knives, skill matters more than with guns at close range. Although a skilled gun-person (gunman? shooter?) will always be more dangerous than someone who has no idea what they’re doing, at very close range you have a pretty good chance at getting a hole in the other person no matter where you shoot; with a knife the difference between a surface cut and a really deep wound is huge. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stabbings-at-pittsburgh-high-school-20-injured/685708.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stabbings-at-pittsburgh-high-school-20-injured/685708.md?page=3)