Professor, two students stabbed in gender studies class at Canadian university
TORONTO — A professor and two students were stabbed Wednesday during a class on gender issues at a university in the Canadian city of Waterloo, police said, and a suspect has been taken into custody.
The wounds were non-life-threatening, police said, adding that the motive for the attack at the University of Waterloo, about 70 miles west of Toronto, was not immediately clear. The suspect was being questioned by investigators.
“There is no further threat to public safety either on campus or outside in the broader community at this time,” Waterloo Regional Police Service Supt. Shaena Morris said at a news conference.
Nick Manning, associate vice president of communications for the University of Waterloo, identified the suspect as a member of “the university community” but declined to confirm whether the individual was a student.
Manning said the stabbing occurred in the Philosophy 202 class, which, according to the university website, focuses on gender issues.
A website description of the course says the class “will examine the construction of gender in the history of philosophy through contemporary discussions. What is gender? How do we ‘do’ gender? How can we ‘undo’ gender — and do we want to?”
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“Our entire community is really concerned that this would happen here. It’s a big shock,” Manning told reporters.
Yusuf Kaymak, a student at the university, told CTV News that the attack happened in a gender studies class.
“The guy basically walked in and asked the teacher if he was the professor. He said, ‘Yeah.’ Then he pulled out a knife, and after that, everybody just ran out,” Kaymak told CTV.
“I ran out, and after we went outside, there was a kid that was stabbed. He was bleeding [from] his arm. I don’t know what happened to the professor,” he said.
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Kaymak said about 40 students were in the class at the time.
Classes scheduled for Wednesday evening in Hagey Hall, where the attack took place, were canceled, but all other campus operations will proceed as usual, the university said on Twitter.
“Our first thoughts, of course, go to the students who are in the class, and have turned immediately to ... supporting the police inquiry,” Manning said.
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