Tacoma Washington teen charged in Foss High School mass stabbing gets $250 bail
Prosecutors asked for $250,000 bail, but court records show a judge set the amount at $250.
Author: Shawn Garrett
Published: 7:23 AM PDT June 9, 2026
Updated: 7:25 AM PDT June 9, 2026
TACOMA, Wash. — A Pierce County judge lowered bail to $250 for a 16-year-old charged as an adult in connection with a stabbing at Foss High School, according to court records filed Monday.
Waleed Emad Essakhi faces four counts of first-degree assault in the April 30 stabbing that injured four students and a school security guard.
The charges stem from a fight that broke out in a hallway and cafeteria area at the Tacoma high school.
Court records show prosecutors asked Monday that bail be set at $250,000. Instead, the judge set bail at $250 and ordered Essakhi to be placed on electronic monitoring if released.
The court also ordered Essakhi to have no contact with the alleged victims, witnesses or co-defendants. He is prohibited from contacting them directly or indirectly, including by phone, text message, social media or letter.
Defense attorney James Curtis argued the earlier bail request was based on an incomplete account of the events leading up to the stabbing.
According to a defense motion, a witness told police the confrontation stemmed from a dispute over a vape battery and that another student had paid friends to fight Essakhi. The defense also said campus security reported seeing four students assaulting Essakhi while he was cowering and protecting his head.
Earlier charging documents said surveillance video showed four students confronting Essakhi before the fight. At one point, the students formed a semicircle around him, and Essakhi could be seen slapping his own face and moving toward one student "as if trying to get [the student] to strike first."
The documents state that Essakhi then reached into his pocket and removed an object before he and one of the students lunged at each other and the fight began.
A school security guard told police he ran to the hallway after hearing a call for help and saw a group of students fighting. He said he was cut when he reached down to grab Essakhi but was able to disarm him.
Six people were taken to hospitals after the stabbing. At least two victims required surgery, including one who had part of a lung removed, according to charging documents.
Essakhi has pleaded not guilty.
His trial was scheduled to begin June 17.
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