'He was scared': Mother of Carrick High stabbing suspect says son received threats

The mother of a teen charged with stabbing three classmates at Carrick High School said her son was shaken by threats he received on social media and did not want to attend school Wednesday. She hadn’t realized his fear prompted him to carry a knife for protection.

“I hugged him really tightly and told him I apologize for that part, because on my end, I didn’t fully listen,” Sasha Taulton told TribLive news partner WTAE. “He was scared.”

Pittsburgh police charged Anthony Taulton, 16, with three counts of felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor counts of possession of weapons on school property and possession instruments of a crime in connection with the Wednesday incident.

He is accused of stabbing two students in the abdomen, critically injuring one, and wounded a third on Wednesday morning less than an hour into the school day.

Sasha Taulton regrets not keeping her son home that day. She said he had been receiving threats of violence through Snapchat. She said she alerted school security that morning.

“I was like, ‘He told me this morning, I’m not sure if it’s true, but he told me this morning that he got added into a group chat last night, and they said they’re going to jump him in school.’ Then I said, ‘Can you watch?’” Taulton said.

Anthony Taulton told police he grabbed a kitchen knife from the counter of his Carrick home before leaving for school Wednesday morning, according to a criminal complaint. He told police he wrapped the knife inside a hat, which he then placed in his book bag.

When he walked through the metal detectors at the school, he handed the bag to a guard, the complaint continues. Taulton told police his bag was checked but the knife was not discovered.

“He wasn’t going, thinking, ‘I’ll just go and stab them up then.’ He even told the detectives he pulled it out and stood, thinking they would back up. He was just trying to scare them,” Sasha Taulton told WTAE.

Anthony was arrested and taken to the Allegheny County Jail.

His mother said she felt his fear during his arrest.

“He just gave me a big hug, and at first, he was saying he’s not going to be able to talk to his mom,” she said.