Manteca Police school resource officer April Smith had her hands full detaining one girl and performing first aid on a bleeding victim at Manteca High School Thursday morning.

It was about 7:30 a.m. when the officer was called to break up a fight between two girls – one a sophomore and the other a junior.

Police reported that the younger 15-year-old girl had used some type of cutting instrument to assault the older 17-year-old leaving her with an eight inch gash that reportedly opened the upper arm to about two inches wide. Officers said she also had a stab wound in the upper chest.

The victim was taken to a local hospital for surgery to repair the cuts and the sophomore girl was taken to juvenile hall, police said.

Detectives are continuing their investigation into the possibility the assault was gang related.  Police said the suspect refused to cooperate with officers at the scene or to answer any questions when she was later interviewed.