Teen in custody after threatening attack with butcher knife at Port Royal shelter, police say
A 15-year-old girl was sent to the Juvenile Detention Center after attempting to attack three others with a butcher knife at a Port Royal youth residential home, according to the Port Royal Police Department.
No injuries were reported.
The girl, whose name is not publicly available because she is a minor, was charged Sunday with resisting arrest and three counts of assault and battery in the first degree, according to a police report obtained by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
The incident occurred Sunday around 8 p.m. when Port Royal deputies responded to a 911 hangup at Open Arms Children’s Home, a youth shelter operated by the Child Abuse Prevention Association housing people under 21 affected by abuse and neglect. Staff told police they hadn’t contacted law enforcement, and that a 15-year-old resident might have done so, as she had a history of falsely calling police, the report says.
Officers noticed the same girl becoming “very unruly and out of control,” according to the report. Just as the deputies were leaving, they heard a staff member shout “Put that knife down!” and witnessed the suspect exiting the kitchen with a butcher knife “at the ready position” as she attempted to assault three other youths.
One officer acted quickly, grabbing the girl’s wrist and trying to take the weapon as she resisted. It took three deputies to take the knife from the suspect, who continued to curse and struggle with officers while being handcuffed.
After receiving a medical evaluation at Beaufort Memorial Hospital, the girl was transported to the Juvenile Detention Center in Columbia, according to Capt. John Griffith, a spokesperson for the Port Royal Police Department.
