School stabbing trial delayed over mood from Texas shootings

OSHKOSH, Wis. (AP) — The judge presiding over a case involving a violent altercation in a Wisconsin high school postponed the trial after defense attorneys argued that public sentiment related to the school shootings in Texas could taint the jury pool.

Grant Fuhrman, accused of stabbing a high school resource officer multiple times with a barbecue fork in Oshkosh in 2019, is charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. The 19-year-old man has pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.

During a struggle, the officer shot the then-16-year-old student. Neither of them was seriously injured and the officer was cleared of wrongdoing.

Fuhrman’s attorneys filed a motion to delay last week, four days after an 18-year-old entered an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and fatally shot 19 children and two teachers. The defense said their client could not get a fair trial in the current environment.

The request said the Texas case would have been on the minds of every potential juror if the interview process had started Tuesday as scheduled.

“The length of time between the outside influence and the trial is critical. Here that time frame is mere days,” the motion states.

Judge Daniel Bissett granted the delay and scheduled a status hearing for July 7.