Teen charged in Tacoma high school stabbing attack; bail set at $750k
A Foss High School student appeared in court Friday afternoon after he allegedly injured five people, including himself, in a stabbing attack during school hours.
Prosecutors charged Waleed Emad Essakhi, 16, with four counts of first-degree assault for the incident that occurred Thursday afternoon.
Four of the victims were students who knew Essakhi, while the fifth victim was a security guard that intervened during the attack. Court documents show the four victims confronted Essakhi because he allegedly stole a vape pen from their friend. Video footage also showed Essakhi allegedly encouraged the boys to hit him, according to charging documents.
A plea of not guilty was entered on Essakhi’s behalf during his arraignment Friday at the Pierce County Juvenile Court. Judge Jennifer Andrews set bail at $750,000, which was what prosecutors requested.
“While these are just allegations at this time, the allegations are concerning,” deputy prosecuting attorney Lena Berberich-Eerebout said during the hearing.
Berberich-Eerebout said one of the victims was stabbed in the chest and a surgeon had to remove a section of his lung from the damage. Charging documents show the victim is stable, but in critical condition and will be transferred to an ICU. The other victims are also stable.
Berberich-Eerebout said none of the victims were armed.
“The state has severe concerns for community safety due to his volatile behavior, and release high bail is appropriate,” she said.
Details of the case from charging documents
Officers were dispatched at 1:35 p.m. to the high school on South Tyler Street for a mass stabbing. 911 callers reported multiple people were stabbed in the cafeteria and hallway. Officers found the victims when they arrived and began providing medical aid, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Four of the students had stab wounds and lacerations, documents show. The school security officer had a laceration to his arm. The security officer later told police he got cut by the knife while Essakhi had it in his hands. The security guard believed it was an accident and said Essakhi apologized to him.
Documents show Essakhi had a laceration to the top of his left leg, which required sutures. Everyone who was injured were taken to local hospitals.
Detectives interviewed one of the victims, who is a twin with another victim identified. He told police he got a call from a third victim, who said he was about to get into a fight with a kid. The twins went upstairs to a hallway and saw Essakhi clutching an object in his pocket, documents show.
Another victim said all four of the student victims had a problem with Essakhi. Their friend, who was not part of the group involved in the incident, reported that Essakhi stole from him. The friend told one of the victims to confront Essakhi. Documents later show the stolen item was a vape pen.
Documents show the four victims confronted Essakhi in the hallway.
A third victim told police during the confrontation that Essakhi repeatedly told one of the victims to hit him. Essakhi allegedly shoved that boy, who pushed back. Essakhi allegedly punhced the boy in the face and everyone started punching. During the attack, Essakhi allegedly started stabbing them, documents show.
The third victim told police Essakhi had been talking to one of the victims on Instagram video chat about the four of them. Essakhi said the group were members of a gang and were acting like gangsters. The victim said the boys denied being part of a gang.
Essakhi’s mother spoke with detectives who said she heard the fight was over a vape pen. She said that morning her son was acting normall. She did not know of any issues he had with people at school. The mother said her son attended Clover Park High School in Lakewood until January 2026. He switched to Foss High School because of a similar instance when Essakhi swung a belt at other students, documents show.
His mother told detectives that Essakhi was getting jumped and getting into fights, so he transferred. She denied her son was part of a gang. She confirmed Essakhi had access to a wood handled folding pocketknife, which detectives believe was the weapon used in the attack, according to court documents.
Detectives were provided a few videos that allegedly showed the attack. One of the videos showed the four students confront Essakhi, who was dressed in dark clothing and had one hand in his pocket. The video showed Essakhi slapping his own face and bouncing back and forth towards one of the boys. Documents show it appeared Essakhi was trying to get the boy. to attack first.
In the attack while all four boys were punching Essakhi, the footage allegedly showed him swinging a knife at them. One of the boys punched at Essakhi while he was on his back, documents show. A school staff member was seen trying to stop the victim, and Essakhi got up at the ground where he allegedly swung the knife at two victims.
Another video showed the defendant running off while the boys followed him. Essakhi was seen getting kicked when he fell to the ground. A staff member pushed a victim off Essakhi. Several other staff members intervened. While the boys were escorted away, one victim was seen on video lying on the ground while staff members tended to him.
The security guard told detectives he disarmed Essakhi and handed the knife to a staff member. He then walked him to the principal’s office.
Foss High School was placed on lockdown after the attack and students were escorted out of the school. Classes were canceled Friday and school will resume Monday with counselors and additional staff available.
Essakhi does not have any previous criminal convictions, according to prosecutors.
A pre-trial hearing has been scheduled for June 1.
This story was originally published May 1, 2026 at 3:37 PM.
