PROVO, Utah (AP) — A Utah teen who pleaded guilty to stabbing four classmates and hitting a fifth in a locker room attack that spread shock and horror through his high school has been sentenced to at least 10 years in prison.
Luke Dollahite, 16, apologized during a sentencing hearing on Thursday and said he's grateful for mercy and kindness he has been shown.
"I don't deserve any of it," he said. Under the terms of his plea deal, Dollahite will first serve time in a juvenile facility where he can get more treatment aimed at rehabilitation until he's 21.
The five victims survived. But several of them suffered serious injuries in a November 2016 attack prosecutors have described as a "rampage of violence" that had victims running from the locker room covered in blood and the school placed on lockdown.
One victim described playing dead as Dollahite stabbed him multiple times. That teen suffered permanent mobility damage to his arm.
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"I looked up at the ceiling and thought this was the end for me," he said Thursday, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. "This is how I was going to die."
Another victim said he couldn't understand why he was attacked at Mountain View High School in Orem, 40 miles south of Salt Lake City. "During the time I was in the hospital, I just couldn't understand why anyone would do this to any of us. We were just in high school," he said, according to the Deseret News.
Authorities have said the teenager brought a martial arts stick and knives to school for what he planned to be a fatal attack on classmates chosen at random.
The Associated Press did not previously name the teen because of his age, but it is now using his name because he has been charged as an adult.
The victims are not being identified because of their ages.
Listening to his classmates talk about their fear and pain in court hearings has helped Dollahite understand what he'd done, defense attorney Mike Esplin said.
Prosecutor Sam Pead he's hopeful Dollahite can be rehabilitated, but he's glad to know the state parole board can decide to keep him behind bars if necessary.
