Police investigate nighttime stabbing of teen on the grounds of an elementary school in Delta

Delta police are investigating astabbing on the grounds ofMcCloskey Elementary School on the evening of April 12.

Police say they were called to the school around 9:40 p.m. PT, where they located a15-year-old suffering from stab wounds.

The youth was transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and is currently in stable condition.

James Sandberg, public affairs manager for the Delta Police Department, says investigators have determined the incident was targeted.

"It's not a random incident, and there's no known connection to any of the high-profile stabbings that we've seen in the Lower Mainland earlier this week," he said.

Sandberg says while the incident took place on school property, it has no other connection to the school.

Investigators returned to the neighbourhood around 116 Streetand 80th Avenue on Thursday to canvas for witnesses and potential video evidence.

They request anyone with information contact the Delta Police Department.

Youth violence

The violent confrontation in Delta follows the recent fatalstabbing of 17-year-old Ethan Bespflugon Tuesday on a bus around King George Boulevard and 100 Avenue, near the King George SkyTrain station in Surrey.

Bespflug was transported to hospital in critical condition and later died.The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) is working on the case alongside Surrey RCMP.

Gurpreet Singh Johal, acriminologist at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, says while the uptick in stabbings might seem like a current issue, there have been similar incidents in the past.

In 1992, Johal says, teenager Jesse Cadman was stabbed while getting off a bus in Surrey.

"There is an immediacy to issues, but there is also a historical factor for people to [consider about] how we dealt with such an issue in the past. Is it much different than the present?

"Unfortunately, tragedies such as this are moments to keep our government officials, our policing officials, our infrastructure generally around public safety, called into question really quickly."

Premier David Eby said Thursday that police patrols on buses and trains have been stepped up following Bespflug's death.