Stabbing at Washington state high school injures 6, including suspect, police say

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Police in Tacoma, Washington, responded to a report of a possible stabbing at a high school to find four students and an adult security guard injured, authorities said Thursday.

The suspect, a student, was in custody and also injured, said Shelbie Boyd, a spokesperson for the Tacoma Police Department.

All those injured were taken to a hospital, including the suspect, she said.

The Tacoma Fire Department responded to Foss High School at 1:38 p.m. for a possible stabbing, spokesperson Chelsea Shepherd said. Upon arrival, crews treated and took five patients to local hospitals, including four in critical condition and one with minor injuries.

The sixth injured person was in police custody and was also taken to a local hospital with minor injuries, she said. All were in stable condition as of late afternoon.

Shepherd did not confirm the type of injuries treated.

“The school is secure, and we are currently investigating. Parents can pick up their kids in the student’s parking lot. There’s a reunification area there,” said Boyd, the police spokesperson.

The school went into lockdown at 1:38 p.m., and students were safely dismissed at 2:45 p.m., Tacoma Public Schools said in an emailed statement. School and after-school activities for Friday were canceled.

The school will reopen Monday with counselors on site to support students and staff.

“We are grateful for the quick, calm action of our staff and our first responders,” the district said.

Tacoma Police officer Shelbie Boyd addresses media after multiple people were injured in a stabbing at Foss High School, Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Tacoma, Wash. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

Tacoma Police officers investigate after multiple people were injured in a stabbing at Foss High School, Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Tacoma, Wash. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

Tacoma Police officers investigate after multiple people were injured in a stabbing at Foss High School, Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Tacoma, Wash. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

Tacoma Police officers investigate after multiple people were injured in a stabbing at Foss High School, Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Tacoma, Wash. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

A student watches as Tacoma Police officers investigate after multiple people were injured in a stabbing at Foss High School, Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Tacoma, Wash. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Taylor Frankie Paul, a reality TV star from “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” and the father of her 2-year-old son were ordered Thursday to stay 100 feet (30 meters) away from each other for the next three years as a Utah court commissioner continues to assess custody plans for the child.

Paul has been unable to spend unsupervised time with her son since an April 7 hearing, when Third District Court Commissioner Russell Minas said Paul had a history of volatile behavior directed at her former partner, Dakota Mortensen, while kids were present.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of domestic violence. If you or someone you know needs help, please call the national domestic violence hotline: 1-800-799-7233 in the U.S.

Minas on Thursday described the pair's dynamic as “very toxic” before granting Paul and Mortensen's dueling requests for protective orders against each other. He found that “there’s been violence that occurred both ways between these parties" and urged them to figure out how to function as co-parents to their son, Ever.

“I'm hoping that you're not people who just thrive on the drama and the conflict,” Minas said. “You've got to put your child first and shield the child from this conflict.”

Paul, Mortensen and their families were present in court, but no other cast members from the Hulu reality show attended.

Attorneys for Paul and Mortensen offered competing versions of fights between the pair, with each suggesting the other party was the aggressor.

Paul's attorney Eric Swinyard told the court commissioner that Mortensen is much larger and stronger than Paul — and that when she when she was faced with physical intimidation from Mortensen during an argument, she responded the same way a lot of people would.

“He said, ‘Hit me,’ and she did,” Swinyard said.

One fight between the two came when Paul was dealing with two recent miscarriages, and she was frustrated because their child had been sick. Paul felt that Mortensen had been blowing her off when she tried to talk to him about Ever's treatment, Swinyard said.

When Paul lost her footing and fell to the ground, Mortensen kicked her several times in the leg, Swinyard said. He told Minas that photographs of the bruising were included in the exhibits.

Mortensen's attorney Brent Salazar-Hall told Minas that his client was a victim of abuse from Paul, but that she kept luring him back with text messages inviting him over for intimacy.

During one argument, Paul and Mortensen were in a truck and she tried to interfere with his driving by squeezing his face, Salazar-Hall said. In response, Mortensen shoved her away, he said.

Paul's lawyers said he slammed her head into the vehicle's dashboard, causing bruises.

Mortensen has Paul’s initials tattooed on the inside of his lip, which Paul’s attorney pointed to as an example of his possessive nature. Mortensen’s lawyer disagreed with that characterization and said all of the men on the show got lip tattoos of their partners’ names in a humorous scene that has not yet aired.

“There seems to be a continuing attraction that they have for each other, whether it’s physical, whether it’s the thrill between the two of them of making themselves celebrities,” Minas said.

“The problem is that the two of them can’t be together in the same place at the same time before it starts to turn violent,” he added.

Eleven fights between the exes were under examination in their protective order requests. A recently leaked video of one fight from 2023 prompted ABC to make the unprecedented move last month of shelving an already-filmed season of “The Bachelorette” starring Paul. Hulu also paused production of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” and resumed filming last week.

In the video, Paul appeared to punch, kick and throw chairs at Mortensen while her daughter from another relationship watched and cried.

Swinyard alleged that Mortensen leaked that video to the press to ruin Paul’s reality TV career just before her season of “The Bachelorette” was supposed to air.

“Our point with the video is he’s not just trying to come after her for custody. He’s not just trying to seek a protective order. He wants to literally destroy her,” Swinyard said.

Salazar-Hall said Mortensen denies leaking the video.

Just after the fight, Paul was charged with aggravated assault and other offenses, including domestic violence in the presence of a child. The police body camera footage of her arrest was featured in the first season of the Hulu series.

Paul pleaded guilty to an assault charge, which will be reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor if she stays out of legal trouble for a three-year probationary period that ends in August. The other counts were dismissed.

Earlier this month, the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office declined to file new charges against Paul in recent fights with Mortensen. Any new charges would have violated Paul's probation from the 2023 assault.

Minas said he would revisit Paul's supervised visitation requirements on May 11.

A protective order in Utah can restrict or eliminate a parent’s ability to see their child. When both parents have protective orders against each other, the court relies heavily on the recommendations of an attorney appointed to investigate the child's best interests.

Paul and Mortensen's son had a court-appointed attorney present at Thursday’s hearing to help the commissioner determine the safest arrangement for the boy.

Paul had majority of custody of their son before the April 7 hearing.

Taylor Frankie Paul, center right, appears in Third District Court for a hearing regarding protective orders between her and her former partner Dakota Mortensen in Salt Lake City, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (Bethany Baker/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)

Attorney Brent Salazar-Hall, representing Dakota Mortensen, speaks during a hearing regarding protective orders between Taylor Frankie Paul and Mortensen in Third District Court in Salt Lake City, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (Bethany Baker/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)

Taylor Frankie Paul, second from left, and Dakota Mortensen, far right, appear in Third District Court for a hearing regarding protective orders in Salt Lake City, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (Bethany Baker/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)

Dakota Mortensen appears in Third District Court for a hearing regarding protective orders between him and his former partner Taylor Frankie Paul in Salt Lake City, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (Bethany Baker/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)

Taylor Frankie Paul appears in Third District Court for a hearing regarding protective orders between her and her former partner Dakota Mortensen in Salt Lake City, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (Bethany Baker/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool)

FILE - Taylor Frankie Paul appears at the Oscars in Los Angeles on March 15, 2026. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)