A 14-year-old was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center following a stabbing at South Kitsap High School around 3 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22.

“This kind of stems from an ongoing dispute between the parties,” said deputy chief Dale Schuster of the Port Orchard Police Department, who described the suspect as a 15-year-old male. “They ran into each other at the south end of the high school and ended up in a fistfight.”

The pair, Schuster said ended up rolling around on the ground, where the 15-year-old allegedly drew a folding pocketknife and proceeded to stab the victim numerous times. The victim, Schuster said, sustained multiple lacerations to his head and face.

“He had nonlife-threatening wounds but it’s still concerning because you don’t know how badly a knife wound can be,” the deputy chief added.

“They separated and the 15-year-old turned himself in to the principal of the high school,” Schuster said, explaining that initial reports indicating that the suspect had been seen walking down Mitchell Avenue shortly after the incident were inaccurate. “It actually turns out that the suspect walked into the high school and turned himself in to the principal there. It was the victim and his friends were wandering off in the opposite direction towards the ball fields there.”

As of press time, Schuster said he had not received any update on the condition of the 14-year-old victim. Detectives with the Port Orchard Police Department, Schuster added, would looking into whether the incident was gang related.