Alex Hribal, the 16-year-old student who police say stabbed 22 people at his Pennsylvania high school Wednesday, is “confused, scared and depressed,” his attorney told ABC News in an exclusive interview. 
 
 “I think he understands what he did,” attorney Patrick Thomassey said in an interview with “Good Morning America.” 
 
 “I don’t think he at this point understands the gravity of what he did. I don’t think he realizes how severely injured some of these people are. And, hopefully, there’s no death involved in any of these. We’re praying that everybody is all right.” 
 
 Knife-Wielding Pa. Student Wounds at Least 22 in Stabbing Spree 
 
 High School Stabbing Shocks Community 
 
 Thomassey said he’s unaware of any signs of Hribal’s being bullied, adding that the teen’s parents are shocked and horrified. 
 
 “They could not have predicted that this was going to happen,” he said. “They don’t understand how this occurred.” 
 
 The stabbing spree happened at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, a suburb located about 20 miles east of Pittsburgh. Morgan Ritchey, who said she had two classes with Hribal, described him as being “a little misunderstood.” 
 
 “I just always felt like he had a different side to him that nobody knew and it was, like, hard to uncover,” said Ritchey. 
 
 Hribal, a sophomore, used two 8-to-10 inch "kitchen-type" "straight" knives in the attack, which started shortly after 7 a.m., police said. 
 
 Multiple Injuries in Stabbing Spree 
 
 Murrysville Police Officer William “Buzz” Yakshe, a school resource officer, heard a disturbance in the hallway and joined a school security guard to go find out what was happening, according to a police affidavit. 
 
 The guard and officer split up. The next time Yakshe saw the guard, he was leaning against a wall, bleeding from his stomach. 
 
 Sam King, the school’s assistant principal, told police he saw Hribal stab the security guard. King tackled the teen and subdued him while Yakshe handcuffed him. 
 
 King heard one of the victims say, “I’ve been stabbed,” he told police. 
 
 Authorities charged Hribal as an adult with four counts of attempted criminal homicide, 21 counts of aggravated assault and one count of possession of weapons on school property. He was arraigned Wednesday and is being held without bail in a juvenile detention center in Westmoreland County. 
 
 Murrysville Police Chief Thomas Seefeld said someone pulled a fire alarm during the attack, raising attention and getting students and teachers to evacuate. 
 
 "When we got there we saw a hallway in chaos, as you can imagine," Seefeld said at a news conference. "There was a lot of evidence of blood on the floors and in the hallway, we had students running about, trying to get out of the area." 
 
 Nate Moore, 15, was stabbed during the rampage and said he had to be treated with 15 stitches. 
 
 "It was really fast. It felt like he hit me with a wet rag because I felt the blood splash on my face. It spurted up on my forehead," Moore told The Associated Press. 
 
 Student Gracey Evans said heroes emerged during the attack. 
 
 "My best friend, he stepped in front of me and in the meantime, he got stabbed in the back protecting me," she said. 
 
 "You couldn't step a single place without pretty much stepping in blood." 
 
 At least 22 people were injured after the stabbings at the start of the school day, Westmoreland County emergency management spokesman Dan Stevens said. 
 
 The motive for the rampage is under investigation. Seefeld said officials were unaware of any warning signs from the suspect, a sophomore at the school. 
 
 At least four people with injuries emergency management officials described as "serious" were flown to hospitals for treatment. Others were not actually stabbed, he said, and some of their injuries included cuts and scrapes. 
 
 The Associated Press contributed to this report. ||||| Story highlights The DA says 4 people are in critical condition, including one who was "eviscerated" 
 
 Alex Hribal, 16, faces 4 counts of attempted homicide, 21 counts of aggravated assault 
 
 Teachers use students' hoodies as tourniquets on injured teens, student says 
 
 An assistant principal tackled the accused attacker, authorities say 
 
 A teenage boy wielding two kitchen knives went on a stabbing rampage at his high school in Murrysville, Pennsylvania, early Wednesday, before being tackled by an assistant principal, authorities said. 
 
 Twenty students and a security officer at Franklin Regional Senior High School were either stabbed or slashed in the attack, Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck told reporters. 
 
 The accused attacker was been identified as 16-year-old Alex Hribal, according to a criminal complaint made public. Hribal, who was arraigned as an adult, faces four counts of attempted homicide, 21 counts of aggravated assault and one count of possession of a weapon on school grounds, the documents show. 
 
 "I'm not sure he knows what he did, quite frankly," Hribal's attorney, Patrick Thomassey, said, adding he would file a motion to move the case to juvenile court. 
 
 "...We have to make sure that he understands the nature of the charges and what's going on here. It's important that he be examined by a psychiatrist and determined where he is mentally." 
 
 A doctor who treated six of the victims, primarily teens, said at first they did not know they had been stabbed. 
 
 "They just felt pain and noticed they were bleeding," Dr. Timothy VanFleet, chief of emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, told CNN. 
 
 "Almost all of them said they didn't see anyone coming at them. It apparently was a crowded hallway and they were going about their business, and then just felt pain and started bleeding." 
 
 Arguing against bail for Hribal, the district attorney told the court that four of the victims were in critical condition, including one who was "eviscerated." There's a question whether the victim will survive, Peck said. 
 
 Hribal is being held without bail at the Westmoreland County juvenile detention center. 
 
 Authorities have not detailed a possible motive in the attack, but the district attorney said in court the teen made "statements when subdued by officials that he wanted to die." 
 
 'Don't know what I got going down' 
 
 The carnage began shortly before the start of classes, when an attacker began stabbing students in a crowded hallway and then went from classroom to classroom. 
 
 Student Matt DeCesare was outside the school when he heard a fire alarm ring and then saw two students come out of the school covered in blood. 
 
 Then he saw teachers running into the building and pulling "a couple of more students out," he told CNN. The students had been stabbed. 
 
 To stanch the bleeding, the teachers asked the students for their hoodies. 
 
 "We all took our hoodies off and handed them to the teachers to use as tourniquets to stop the bleeding," he said. 
 
 Recordings of emergency calls released in the wake of the attack provide a soundtrack of sorts to the terror and chaos that played out inside the school. 
 
 "I don't know what I got going down at school here but I need some units here ASAP," one officer can be heard saying. 
 
 Minutes later in another call, another official, breathlessly, can be heard detailing casualties: "About 14 patients right now." 
 
 Then another call for help. "Be advised inside the school we have multiple stab victims," one of the officers said. "So bring in EMS from wherever you can get them. 
 
 'Saw the kid who was stabbing people' 
 
 Student Mia Meixner was standing at her locker. 
 
 "I heard a big commotion like behind my back," she told CNN. "And I turned around and I saw two kids on the ground." 
 
 She thought a fight had broken out, but then she saw blood. 
 
 "I saw the kid who was stabbing people get up and run away," she said. 
 
 Then she saw a girl she knew standing by the cafeteria. "She was gushing blood down her arm." 
 
 Meixner dropped her books and went to help the girl. 
 
 "I started hearing a stampede of students coming down from the other end of the hall, saying 'Get out, we need to leave, go, there's a kid with a knife.' Then a teacher came over to me and the girl I was trying to help. And she said she would handle the girl and that I should run out. So then I just ran out of the school and tried to get out as soon as possible." 
 
 Meixner never heard the attacker utter a word. 
 
 "He was very quiet. He just was kind of doing it," she said. "And he had this, like, look on his face that he was just crazy and he was just running around just stabbing whoever was in his way." 
 
 She said she didn't know the boy, but he had been in a lot of her classes. "He kept to himself a lot," she said. "He didn't have that many friends that I know of, but I also don't know of him getting bullied that much. I actually never heard of him getting bullied. He just was kind of shy and didn't talk to many people." 
 
 Hribal's attorney described him as a "nice young man," who has never been in trouble. 
 
 "He's not a loner. He works well with other kids," he said. "...He's scared. He's a young kid. He's 16, looks like he's 12. I mean, he's a very young kid and he's never been in trouble so this is all new to him." 
 
 At least a dozen FBI agents could be seen going in and out of Hribal's family home in the hours after the attack. Shortly before the agents arrived at the house, a man believed to be Hribal's father drove up. 
 
 "My prayers go out to everyone who was injured today, and I hope they recover as soon as possible," he told reporters. 
 
 Hribal's attorney said the family was upset by the allegations. "They did not foresee this at all," he said. 
 
 Tackled by an assistant principal 
 
 Assistant Principal Sam King is being credited with bringing to an end the 5-minute rampage that authorities say began about 7:15 a.m. ET. 
 
 King tackled the teen, Peck told reporters. A school resource officer was able to handcuff the suspect, Police Chief Thomas Seefeld said. 
 
 The accused teen was being treated for injuries to his hands, the chief said. 
 
 Police Officer William "Buzz" Yakshe, who also serves as a resource officer at the school, helped subdue the suspect, said Dan Stevens, the county deputy emergency management coordinator. Yakshe is "doing fine," Stevens said. "He's more upset than anything else over what happened, because these are his kids." 
 
 A fire alarm that was pulled during the attack probably helped get more people out of the school during an evacuation order, Seefeld said. Students were running everywhere and there was "chaos and panic." 
 
 JUST WATCHED Students stabbed at Pennsylvania school Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Students stabbed at Pennsylvania school 00:47 
 
 Photos: Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school Photos: Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school – Parents and students embrace near Franklin Regional High School, where authorities say at least 20 people were injured in a stabbing spree Wednesday, April 9, in Murrysville, Pennsylvania. Hide Caption 1 of 12 Photos: Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school – Accused attacker Alex Hribal, 16, is escorted from a district magistrate after he was arraigned as an adult on April 9. He faces four counts of attempted homicide, 21 counts of aggravated assault and one count of possession of a weapon on school grounds, according to a criminal complaint made public. Hide Caption 2 of 12 Photos: Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school – A police officer blocks the entrance to the school on April 9. Hide Caption 3 of 12 Photos: Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school – Students leave the school's campus on April 9. Hide Caption 4 of 12 Photos: Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school – A police officer stands by the scene outside the high school on April 9. Hide Caption 5 of 12 Photos: Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school – A woman walks onto the campus of the Franklin Regional School District on April 9. Hide Caption 6 of 12 Photos: Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school – Students walk away from the campus on April 9. Hide Caption 7 of 12 Photos: Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school – Emergency responders gather in the parking lot of Franklin Regional High School on April 9. Hide Caption 8 of 12 Photos: Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school – Jenna Mickel, a sophomore at Franklin Regional High School, stands with her father, Richard, as she talks to reporters outside the school on April 9. Hide Caption 9 of 12 Photos: Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school – Emergency responders gather in the high school's parking lot. Hide Caption 10 of 12 Photos: Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school – A pair of women leave the school's campus on April 9. Hide Caption 11 of 12 Photos: Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school Stabbings at Pennsylvania high school – A Salvation Army disaster services vehicle drives past a school bus and onto the campus on April 9. Hide Caption 12 of 12 
 
 At one point, a female student applied pressure to the wounds of one of the male victims, possibly helping to save his life, said Dr. Mark Rubino, chief medical officer at Forbes Regional Hospital in nearby Monroeville, Pennsylvania, where seven teens were taken for treatment. 
 
 The students who were hurt range in age from 14 to 17, Stevens said. The injuries were stabbing-related, such as lacerations or punctures, he said. 
 
 'It doesn't happen here' 
 
 The attack in Murrysville is the latest in a string of school violence that has occurred across the nation. But mass stabbings, such as the one at the high school, are rare. 
 
 The attack has rattled the town, a residential enclave with a population of about 20,000. 
 
 A message on the Franklin Regional School District's website said all of its elementary schools were closed after the incident, and "the middle school and high school students are secure." 
 
 Franklin Regional Senior High will be closed "over the next several days," district school Superintendent Gennaro Piraino said. The district's middle school and elementary schools will be open Thursday, and counseling will be available for the whole district, he said. 
 
 Information on what led to the stabbings and the conditions of the injured are still unfolding. 
 
 Bill Rehkopf, a KDKA radio host and Franklin Regional High School graduate, called the stabbing shocking. 
 
 He said he kept thinking, "It doesn't happen here, it can't happen here."
– A student who was stabbed in the liver remains in critical condition following today's rampage at a high school in suburban Pittsburgh that left 23 others injured and a sophomore in custody. The suspect is 16-year-old Alex Hribal, and he has been charged as an adult with four counts of attempted homicide and 21 counts of aggravated assault. The motive remains unclear, but the AP says police are investigating reports of a threatening phone call between Hribal and another student last night. It wasn't clear which of the two made the call. The accounts of exactly what happened at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville are still unfolding, but authorities say assistant principal Sam King and a security guard at the school tackled and subdued the attacker in a hallway. Some other details emerging: The attack began in a classroom when Hribal pulled out two 8-inch kitchen knives and began slashing students, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He reportedly followed them as they fled into the hallway and stabbed others as he ran. During the assault, the attacker "was very quiet," student Mia Meixner tells CNN. "He just was kind of doing it. And he had this, like, look on his face that he was just crazy and he was just running around just stabbing whoever was in his way." A doctor at a nearby hospital said a female student with "an amazing amount of composure" likely saved the life of one of the more seriously injured male students by applying pressure to his wounds. That appears to be junior Gracie Evans, who recounts to the Pittsburgh newspaper: "My friend was on his stomach, and the other kid who was severely injured was told to sit up. I knew that wasn't right. I said to a few students, we need pressure on this wound, and they gave me some paper towels, and I held pressure on that wound for about 10 minutes." Authorities say 22 people were stabbed or slashed, all but one of them students, and two more students suffered other injuries in the chaos.