A Tennessee mom claims that her son was stabbed by a fellow classmate. The 8-year-old boy, who attends Riverwood Elementary in Cordova, Tennessee, was allegedly attacked with a pen by another child. Now, the mom also says that her son is too embarrassed by the incident to return to school.
Even though the child who reportedly committed the act has been suspended from school and will have to appear in court with a parent, the mom says that’s not enough. She wants the child to be expelled.
According to mom Mary Mull, her 8-year-old son was stabbed by a 9-year-old classmate in the school’s cafeteria. Her son, whose name has not been released, was stabbed in the face and hand.
Mull told WREG that her son and the boy were sitting at the same table. The other student reportedly started yelling at her son, who then began yelling back. And that’s when things got physical.
“The boy he got into an altercation with, he began bumping him and pushing him, and he pushed back, and that’s when the stabbing started,” the mom said. “He got out the pen and stabbed him in the arm, and my son reacted, and he had him in a headlock, and he started stabbing my son’s face.”
The Memphis Police Department confirmed police responded to the stabbing around 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. They said the 8-year-old boy was transported to Baptist East Pediatrics in non-critical condition. Additionally, they said a 9-year-old boy was given a juvenile summons.
Mull claims the school told her the injuries her son sustained were minor. However, she said they didn’t really take it as seriously as it really was. “The doctor said he was lucky that the injury wasn’t farther down and didn’t puncture his eye,” she said. She also alleged that there were no adults present when her son was stabbed.
“No adults came until after my son was bleeding after he was stabbed, and blood was around, and they heard the other children crying,” Mull said. “I feel like my son should have had better protection. How did a pen, an ink pen, get to the cafeteria?” Now, she says, her son is afraid and embarrassed to return to school.
“My son just wants to know why this happened to him. He just doesn’t feel like he was protected,” Mull said. “He doesn’t feel like he can talk to his teacher or anything like that.”
Both WREG and FOX 13 Memphis reached out to Riverwood Elementary, but neither got a response. However, someone from the Memphis-Shelby County School District commented on a Facebook post from FOX 13:
“The incident took place at a table seating 9 to 10 students inside of the school cafeteria. One student was struck with an ink pen. The parents of both students involved were immediately contacted, and the remaining students at the table were given a physical letter by the principal at dismissal to share with their parents,” the comment read.
“Because of the sensitive nature of the children’s ages and an ongoing review of the incident, we only contacted parents of the students who were involved or witnessed the incident. This was an isolated incident that did not place additional students in harms way. The safety of students and staff remains our top priority.”
