Police see no sign Franklin Regional stabbing suspect was bullied

Investigators have no evidence that a 16-year-old arrested in connection with a stabbing rampage at Franklin Regional Senior High School last week was bullied, Murrysville police Chief Tom Seefeld said on Wednesday.

Seefeld said an online taunt posted on Facebook the night before the knife attack was not directed at sophomore Alex Hribal, who is accused of stabbing 19 students and a security guard on April 9.

“We still haven't received any evidence of there being any bullying,” Seefeld said.

Seefeld said investigators determined the Facebook post that some students reported was not directed at Hribal and did not refer to the person as a “rat face.”

Seefeld said the name-calling was between two other students. Investigators found the posting on another student's Facebook page; it called that person a “rat-looking peasant,” Seefeld said.

However, Seefeld said police are still seeking information from the public on whether any bullying of Hribal took place.

“We're here if anybody comes up with any new information,” he said.

Though rumors are circulating in the community that Hribal may have been the victim of a hazing incident in the days before the stabbings, Seefeld said police and Westmoreland County detectives have not received any such information.

“Nothing has been brought to us at this time,” Seefeld said.

District Attorney John Peck declined to comment on the investigation of the taunt and deferred questions to Seefeld.

He said the investigation is ongoing.

“We're continuing to examine all potential circumstances, and (Hribal's) background,” Peck said.

Seefeld said police still “have to do some interviews with a couple of victims.”

Investigators said the FBI is looking at Facebook and other social media postings from electronic devices including three computers and online gaming consoles confiscated from Hribal's Murrysville home on April 9. The FBI also will examine information on Hribal's cellphone, which was confiscated from his locker the day of the stabbings, law enforcement sources said.

Gregory A. Heeb, supervisor special agent at the FBI office in Pittsburgh, said officials cannot discuss details of the Franklin Regional investigation. Such investigations can take time because of diversity of the devices confiscated, he said.

“In most cases, all digital media seized by FBI Pittsburgh is reviewed in the Pittsburgh Division,” Heeb said.

“Processing time varies based upon the storage capacity of and the amount of data on a particular device,” he said. “It also depends upon the quantity and type of information we are searching for.”

Heeb said investigators first create a mirror image of the device.

“In general terms, given the storage capacity of hard drives installed in computers today, imaging a digital media storage device such as a computer can take up to two days. Storage devices must be imaged before forensic examiners can begin to analyze the data,” he said.

After the data is imaged, the forensic review process begins, Heeb said.

“If we know exactly what we are looking for on a particular device, the time it takes to review the data can be reduced,” he said. “Review time will also depend on whether a particular device is password-protected and the location of data on the device.

“Think of the forensic review in terms of executing a search warrant on a home. FBI agents could walk in and find the item we are looking for on a table next to the front door, or spend hours searching the home and locate the item hidden under a floor board,” Heeb said.

Hribal is charged with four counts of attempted homicide, 21 counts of aggravated assault and one count of possession of a weapon on school property. He was ordered held in the county juvenile detection center pending his preliminary hearing on April 30.

He could receive up to 20 years on each of the attempted homicide and assault charges.

Paul Peirce and Renatta Signorini are staff writers for Trib Total Media. Peirce can be reached at 724-850-2860 or ppeirce@tribweb.com. Signorini can be reached at 724-837-5374 or rsignorini@tribweb.com.