Parents of Pa. girl beaten with Stanley cup sues North Penn School District

The family of a Montgomery County girl who investigators said was attacked by another student with a metal Stanley cup last year is suing the North Penn School District, accusing it of failing to protect the victim and other children.

On April 17, 2024, a 12-year-old girl was attacked by another student who was armed with a Stanley cup inside the cafeteria of Pennbrook Middle School in North Wales, Pennsylvania, police said.  

Security footage of the attack obtained by NBC10 shows the victim walking down what appears to be the main aisle of the cafeteria when the attacker appears from behind and begins striking her with the metal cup. After the first strike, school security officers try to stop the attacker and another employee jumps in. The attacker appears to hit the victim four more times before the two are separated. The attack lasts about ten seconds.

The victim was taken to a hallway where she received aid while the attacker was taken into custody by responding police officers.

Staff members closed the cafeteria doors to keep the rest of the students inside and the school was temporarily placed on lockdown.

The victim was taken to the hospital and released later that night, officials said.

Now, more than a year after the incident, the parents of the victim are suing the North Penn School District. In the lawsuit, filed on Oct. 30, 2025, the parents claim the district was aware of the “assailant’s lengthy and documented history of aggression.” The lawsuit also claimed the suspect had been at a private school for children in need of more intense supervision but returned to the North Penn School District on April 15, 2024, two days before the attack.

Lawyers representing the victim and her family also accused the school district of failing to enact safeguards and protections for the girl and others, claiming other students and parents had also notified the district of the suspect’s threats to harm others.

During a monthly school board meeting the day after the attack, students described what they saw while parents talked about how traumatized their children were.

“The girl who got attacked didn’t see it because she was faced backwards and all of a sudden you just hear these terrible, loud bangs of the Stanley bouncing off her head,” one student said. “There was blood going everywhere. I was the table right behind. And all you see is blood everywhere.”

The lawsuit cites comments made at board meetings and forums the school district held in the aftermath of the attack and said those meetings were evidence that the district had been warned the suspect was planning to harm others.

NBC10 reached out to the North Penn School District for comment.

“The North Penn School District is aware of a recently filed civil lawsuit relating to an incident that occurred at one of our middle schools in April of 2024,” a spokesperson wrote. “It is not the practice of the district to provide comment on active litigation regarding student matters.  We are respectful of the legal process and expect that future proceedings will address any of the allegations that are in dispute.”

The suspect in the attack attended a detention hearing on April 22, 2024. NBC10 was in the juvenile court building when a commotion could be heard from the courtroom. Police told NBC10 the suspect was detained to a juvenile facility after attempting to toss a water jug towards deputies.

North Penn Now reported the attacker was charged with aggravated assault and other related offenses. A judge later signed a gag order preventing any information on the suspect from being released.

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