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Woburn boy stabbed multiple times by classmate afraid to return to school

WOBURN, Mass. — A Woburn middle schooler is recovering after he was stabbed by a classmate multiple times Thursday morning.

The boy and his family spoke exclusively to Boston 25 News reporter Katie Burcham Friday, telling her he is afraid to go back to school.

It started around 7:50 a.m. Thursday at the Kennedy Middle School in Woburn when a fight between two students reportedly escalated, resulting in one student stabbing the other. A statement released by Mayor Scott Galvin, Police Chief Robert Rufo and Superintendent of Schools Matthew Crowley referred to the incident as a "slashing," indicating the 12-year-old victim sustained superficial slash wounds to the hand.

>> 11-year-old slashes student with knife at Woburn middle school

The boy, however, told us that is not the case, claiming he was not "slashed" by a kitchen knife, but rather sustained several puncture wounds from the attack.

The sixth-grader tells us he was sitting with his friends in the auditorium when an 11-year-old classmate walked in.

"He said, I'm gonna kill somebody today," said the victim, whom we are not identifying.

He says the suspect was targeting someone else, but then sat down next to him.

"He had his hands folded and then he started shaking and then when he started shaking, he got up and he stabbed me multiple times."

The boy showed us his puncture wounds, that narrowly missed his liver and kidneys. He says he can still recall the boy's knife in vivid detail.

"At the bottom, it was black, and at the top, it was bent. It was a steak knife and it was bent," he told us.

Police say, however, that the 11-year-old assailant won't face any criminal charges. The family says they've been told the suspect has been suspended from the school for two weeks.

"That's just wrong. He tried to kill somebody. He tried to kill me," the young victim told Burcham.

The boy also says school officials should install metal detectors inside the middle school to prevent any other students from bringing in weapons.

He says he doesn't feel safe there anymore.

"I feel really scared and nervous and anxious," he said.

Boston 25 News has reached out to the superintendent to ask about discipline for the student and if they'll consider the request for metal detectors. We have not heard back.