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By Joe Mandak Associated Press MURRYSVILLE, Pa. » Flail- ing away with two kitchen knives, a 16-year-old boy with a "blank expression" stabbed and slashed 21 stu - dents and a security guard in the crowded halls of his suburban Pittsburgh high school Wednesday before an assistant principal tack - led him. At least five students were critically wounded, including a boy who was on a ventila - tor after a knife pierced his liver, missing his heart and aorta by only millimeters, doctors said. The rampage — which came after decades in which U.S. schools geared much of their emergency plan - ning toward mass shoot- ings, not stabbings — set off a screaming stampede, left blood on the floor and walls, and brought teachers rush - ing to help the victims. The motive was under in- vestigation. The suspect, whose name was not immediately re- leased by police, was taken into custody and treated for a minor hand wound. Late in the afternoon, he was brought into court in shack - les and a hospital gown to face charges. The attack unfolded in the morning just minutes before the start of classes at 1,200-student Franklin Regional High School, in an upper-middle-class area 15 miles east of Pittsburgh. It was over in about five minutes, during which the boy ran wildly down about 200 feet of hallway, slashing other students with knives ab ou t 8 to 1 0 in ch es l on g, p o - lice said. Nate Moore, 15, said he saw the boy tackle and stab a freshman. He said he going to try to break it up when the boy got up and slashed his face, requiring 11 stitches. "It was really fast. It felt like he hit me with a wet rag because I felt the blood splash on my face. It spurted up on my forehead," he said. The attacker "had the same expression on his face that he has every day, which was the freakiest part," Moore said. "He wasn't say - ing anything. He didn't have any anger on his face. It was just a blank expression." Assistant Principal Sam King tackled the boy and disarmed him, and a Mur - rysville police officer who is regularly assigned to the campus handcuffed him, po- lice said. Doctors said they expect all the victims to survive, despite large and deep ab- dominal puncture wounds in some cases. King's son told The As- sociated Press that his fa- ther was treated at a hospi- tal, though authorities have said he did not suffer any knife wounds. "He says he's OK. He's a tough cookie and sometimes hides things, but I believe he's OK," Zack King said. He added: "I'm proud of him." As for what set off the attack, Murrysville Police Chief Thomas Seefeld said investigators were looking into reports of a threatening phone call between the sus - pect and another student the night before. Seefeld didn't specify whether the suspect received or made the call. "There are a number of heroes in this day. Many of them are students," Gov. Tom Corbett said in a visit to the stricken town. "Stu - dents who stayed with their friends and didn't leave their friends." He also commended caf - eteria workers, teachers and teacher's aides who put themselves at risk to help during the attack. While several bloody stab - bing rampages at schools in China have made head- lines in the past few years, schools in the U.S. have con- centrated their emergency preparations on shooting rampages. Nevertheless, there have been at least two major stab - bing attacks at U.S. schools over the past year, one at a community college in Texas last April that wounded at least 14 people, and another, also in Texas, that killed a 17-year-old student and in - jured three others at a high school in September. O n We d ne s d ay, M i a Meixner, 16, said the initial assault touched off a "stam - pede of kids" yelling, "Run! Get out of here! Someone has a knife!" Meixner and Moore called the attacker a shy boy who largely kept to himself, but they said he was not an out - cast and they saw no indica- tion he might be violent. "He was never mean to anyone, and I never saw peo- ple be mean to him," Meixner said. "I never saw him with a particular group of friends." During the attack, the boy had a "blank look," she said. "He was just kind of looking like he always does, not smil - ing, not scowling or frown- ing." Michael Float, 18, said he had just gotten to school when he saw "blood all over the floor" and smeared on the wall near the main en - trance. Then he saw a wounded student. "He had his shirt pulled up and he was screaming, 'Help! Help!'" Float said. "He had a stab wound right at the top right of his stomach, blood pouring down." VIoLEncE Teen stabs 22 at Pittsburgh-area high school AP Photo/tribune review, briAn F. henry A student and guardian walk to their car from Franklin regional Middle School aer more than a dozen students were stabbed at nearby Franklin regional high School on wednesday in Murrysville, Pa., near Pittsburgh. Associated Press FRESno » A suspected con- tract killer charged in Cen- tral California with slaying nine people confessed to in- vestigators that he carried out up to 40 slayings in a career spanning decades, a prosecutor said Wednesday. Errek Jett, the district at - torney in Lawrence County, Alabama, said that Jose Manuel Martinez, 51, told investigators he carried out the crimes working as an enforcer for a drug cartel. Jett said they believe Mar - tinez because of the details he gave investigators. Martinez was arrested last year shortly after cross - ing the border from Mexico into Arizona and sent to Al- abama, where he awaits trial on one murder charge. Once word got out, a steady stream of investigators from across the country came to question Martinez, Jett said. Defense attorney Thomas Turner, who represents Martinez in that lone case, said his client is eager to start trial in Alabama, so he can return to Califor - nia. Turner said Martinez maintains his innocence to the charge there and doesn't seem to be a hardened killer. "I've found him to be po - lite and a likable individual," Turner said. "He has a good personality as far as talking with him." Prosecutors in Califor - nia say otherwise. Marti- nez targeted victims in Tu- lare, Kern and Santa Bar- bara counties between 1980 and 2011, Tulare County As- sistant District Attorney Anthony Fultz said. He was charged with the nine slay- ings on Tuesday. Martinez has lived on and off in Richgrove, a small farming community in Cen - tral California about 40 miles north of Bakersfield. He's now being held in Al- abama, awaiting trial in a 2013 slaying, and Fultz said he's also wanted in Florida on suspicion of two killings there in 2006. The California charges would make Marti - nez eligible for a death sen- tence, if he is convicted. Fultz said he is confident Martinez committed at least the nine killings he's charged with, but he has heard fig - ures as high as 30 from across the nation. "We're ac- tually not sure what the full scope is," Fultz said. "It will depend upon what the inves- tigation shows." Fultz declined to comment on any connection Martinez may have had with drug car - tels, saying he did not want to damage the case at this early stage. Fultz said that too will remain under inves - tigation. Acting Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said his deputies came in contact with Martinez investigat - ing a rash of home invasion robberies in late 2012 and early 2013. Martinez was at a home searched and ques - tioned by Sgt. Christal Der- ington, but not considered a suspect. Investigators have re- leased some details of their case, saying six of the vic- tims were killed in Tulare County, two in Kern and one in Santa Barbara. contRact kILLER California man confesses to 40 slayings as enforcer for drug cartel Thurs., April 10 th COWBOY COFFEE 7:45 a.m. Thursday, April 10 Red Bluff Dodge, 545 Adobe Rd. The traditional kickoff to the Red Bluff Round-Up Come meet the folks who make the Round-Up possible, some of the competitors and organizers representing events leading up to Rodeo. Special presentations and surprises! ...And coming up Fri, April 11th BOOT SCOOTING 101 • Country Concert with Country Swing & Country 2-Step Tutorial 8-11 pm, Round Up Saloon, 610 Washington St. RD 93 2014 530-366-3166 www.redbluffdodge.com 545 Adobe Rd., Red Bluff, CA | NEWS | reDbLuFFDAiLynewS.CoM thurSDAy, APriL 10, 2014 8 a