The injured student is expected to survive, and the suspect is in custody, according to HISD police.
The attack occurred amid a rash of violence in Houston-area schools this week.
A Spring High School student was detained and accused of bringing a gun to school. An Alief student was also apprehended, accused of brandishing a kitchen knife in the school hallways of Elsik High School. Bellaire High School students were forced to shelter in place amid a bomb threat.
The Sterling High School attack prompted a two-hour lockdown. Students said they initially feared a large-scale attack because it happened on the cusp of recent school threats that prompted the district to increase security.
"There were threats of there being a shooting and everything. It's alarming, but it's like, what can you do? You can't really do anything. We were just sitting there waiting for the worst to happen," junior Anhar Ghani said.
Embracing his mother outside the high school, freshman Luis Ramos expressed the same concern.
"I thought the worst thing. Someone had a weapon, like a firing weapon. I was really scared. I started praying. I was hoping everything would be OK," Ramos said.
Bridgette Young shared a video of the Sterling High School stabbing with ABC13. It shows her son standing a few feet from the attack. She came to pick him up early after she said he called her screaming.
"My baby is traumatized," she explained.
Amid policy changes rolled out following the state's takeover of Houston ISD, several parents and students told ABC13 they would like to see greater emphasis placed on safety.
"My thing is, to the superintendent, you're so worried about the numbers and the kids being in the seats in school, what are you doing to protect our babies? You're not doing anything to protect our babies," Young said.
She said she was grateful for a staff member who pulled her son to safety amid the attack but expressed concern that the woman had to intervene, despite not being a trained law enforcement officer.
She said she would like to see more officers at the school.
"Even when we were in lockdown, everybody is so worried about phones, phones, phones, and you know, dress code this and that. But it's like, y'all aren't worried about what really matters," Ghani said.
Ramos, who said the fight that precipitated Wednesday's stabbing was the second this week, and one of several this school year, said he would like to see peer mediation and anti-violence courses offered by the district.
"I just want everybody to know, like, it's not cool to do that in school," Ghani said.
Her classmate, LeiLani Johnson, said she would feel more comfortable if students were thoroughly searched while entering the school.
On Thursday afternoon, HISD Chief of Police Shamara Garner is expected to address the district's commitment to student safety.
"We are tired of this," Young said.
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