The attack at the high school in Pitești. The incident reportedly took place against the backdrop of alleged acts of bullying

The 15-year-old student who attacked his classmates with a machete at a high school in Pitești on Thursday allegedly wanted to take revenge because he had allegedly been bullied, one of the witnesses to the attack said. The incident took place in the school bathroom during a break.

One boy was taken to hospital with injuries to his forearm after being cut, while another, who was hit, refused transport to hospital.

“The attacker had a dispute with the boys there and with the boy who is in the ambulance because they had allegedly bullied him. At one point, they harassed him and he wanted to take matters into his own hands. He came and started swinging the machete, but he wasn’t skilled because the blade kept slipping from his hand and he was hitting with the cord. The victim hid behind me out of fear. I didn’t want to get into a physical fight with him, but he also tried to hit me, so I pushed him. We were in the boys’ bathroom. I ran away—I was full of adrenaline—and went to look for teachers. I came across our chemistry and geography teachers, but they didn’t understand what I was trying to tell them, so I ran to the sports teacher. I was afraid he might come after me too,” said a student who witnessed the attack, according to ePitești.ro.

Also, one of the representatives of the educational institution told Digi 24 that the attacker is a ninth-grade student.

“During the first break, in the bathroom, he attacked the others who were in the restroom with a machete. Two of the students came and reported the situation. Three members of the teaching staff hurried to see what was happening,” said the deputy principal of the educational institution, Andreea Grosaru.

According to her, based on the initial discussions with the teachers and the minors’ classmates, “there had apparently been some jokes,” but she does not know “to what extent these jokes had gone.”