Student wielding knives at high school shot by police officer

Logan Clark, a 14 year old student at Hug High School in Reno, Nevada was shot in the shoulder after he pulled out two knives during an altercation with another student. He lunged at students with his weapon and when he didn't respond to commands to drop the knife by a security officer at the school, he was quickly shot. His father said on social media that it was an attempt to defend himself against bullies that had been harassing him recently. His family says he was a troubled kid with special needs and this shooting was unnecessary force. He is currently in critical condition and though his family says that he will survive, he may have permanent lung damage from his injuries. The officer involved was placed on administrative leave.

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Reno Police Chief Jason Soto said the incident began when two students were involved in an altercation at 11:25 a.m. When one of them brandished a knife and threatened others, the cop told him to drop it — and shot him when he refused.

The officer then administered first aid to the boy, Soto told the paper.

A video posted on Facebook later in the day showed the boy, wearing a navy blue shirt and light pants, holding the long blade as someone yells, “Back up! Back up!”

A gunshot is heard and the boy falls, writhing in pain as screams are heard. The officer approaches him with his gun drawn.

Other videos also were posted in social media, including on Twitter.

Jiselle Mandugano, 17, told the Reno paper she was outside the cafeteria when she saw a group of students gather around two other students who appeared to be fighting.

One student pulled out a knife and began swinging at the other, Mandugano said.

“The other kid tried to avoid it,” she said. “I didn’t see him get shot. I just saw him fall to the floor. I was scared. I don’t know what I was feeling.”

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Demick Laflamme was one of those parents, standing outside the schools’ gate for hours. Laflamme said his son is friends with the shot student. He told the Reno Gazette-Journal the boy had been “bullied for days.”

“He is my son's best friend. He's a victim and he's only 15 years old,” said Laflamme, adding that the student "is over at my house almost every day."

"He's a good kid," Laflamme said about the student. "All of his friends like him. Hell, even I love him and I don't like kids."

Laflamme said the student has talked about being bullied.

"The kids take bullying into their own hands, and he was shot for it," Laflamme said.

Laflamme said he found videos online and was horrified to see his son standing next to the shot student, his friend.

"How could they shoot a kid in front of a bunch of other kids?" he asked. "My kid was right there. He could've been hurt. My son tried to go help (his friend) and the police told him to back off."

Laflamme was reunited Wednesday afternoon with his son, Demick Laflamme Jr., 15. Laflamme's son said he was surprised by what happened on Wednesday.

"I wouldn't ever expect him to do this," Laflamme Jr. said about his friend. "I don't even know what happened. It happened fast."

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The officer was placed on administrative leave pending the investigation. Authorities wouldn't provide any other details about the shooting or about policies governing officers' firing their guns at or around students.

But at least one parent said that while it was unfortunate that a child was shot, she was fine with how the confrontation was resolved.

"I was very comfortable with the fact that there's police officers there, because the kids like to fight," said the woman, whom NBC News also isn't naming to protect the identity of her 17-year-old son, who attends the school.

"They are there to protect the kids — which is what he did," she said. "I'm glad the situation got handled the way it did. My kid was right there. He could have been stabbed."


"He was going around telling everybody he's going to shoot and stab everybody. So, I mean he finally did it and he got shot."

He wore a blue Ralph Lauren Italy polo shirt, probably some type of football/soccer shirt or some other sport. There seems to be the number 3 on one of his sleeves and most likely on the back of the shirt too.