Mental health treatment sought for Franklin Regional stabbing suspect

June 27--The attorney for the teenage boy accused of stabbing and slicing 20 classmates and a security guard at Franklin Regional High School says the boy's mental condition is "deteriorating" and he needs to be transferred to a treatment facility.

Alex Hribal, 16, has been charged as an adult with attempted homicide but has been held in Westmoreland County's juvenile detention facility in Hempfield since the rampage on April 9.

Attorney Patrick Thomassey filed a petition Friday asking Westmoreland Judge Richard McCormick Jr. to hold a hearing on his request that Hribal receive in-patient mental health treatment at Adelphoi Village, a secure facility in Derry Township, at the expense of county taxpayers.

"... Given his flat affect, his inability to relate, his impaired judgement, his episodic suicidal ideation, his sense of hopelessness and helplessness, he does not demonstrate the capacity to cooperate with his attorney," Thomassey wrote about Hribal.

The petition said that Dr. Christine Martone examined Hribal on May 14 and the psychologist diagnosed a depressive disorder, schizophrenia and an acne problem.

District Attorney John Peck said he not seen the request.

"I'll have to study the motion to see what his claims are and make a decision" on whether to oppose it, Peck said.

Police said Hribal slashed and stabbed his way down a school hallway with two kitchen knives before classes began. An assistant principal finally subdued him.

Hribal is charged as an adult with 21 counts of attempted homicide and aggravated assault and a single count of possession of a weapon on school property.

Thomassey has said he plans to make a bid to have the case tried in juvenile court.

Police found a handwritten note in Hribal's locker dated three days before the attack that expressed dissatisfaction with school and society and his plans to hurt his classmates, according to court papers.

Police said Hribal refused to surrender the knives when confronted by Assistant Principal Sam King.

Hribal has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He remains in the Regional Youth Services Center without bond.

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