VICTORVILLE — A Silverado student was stabbed Wednesday morning during an on-campus altercation that may have been race-related, officials said.

The stabbing happened around 9 a.m. after a group of more than three black males confronted one Hispanic male and began arguing, said Shelly Williams, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Victorville station.

“The Hispanic juvenile said he had the knife to protect himself. He was carrying it because he had been jumped before. He didn’t say if it was at the school, and he was afraid,” Williams said.

As the juveniles argued, the Hispanic male produced the knife and stabbed one of the black males on the side of his lower torso, Williams said.

The victim then went straight to the Athletic Department office where authorities were called. At the time Williams reported that those on scene saw the injured boy bleeding but it was not immediately clear what happened to him.

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“We have reason to believe it was racially motivated,” Williams said. She added that the victim was not being cooperative with authorities in divulging information.

The stabbing came one day after another security guard was let go, fueling rumors that recent violence can be attributed to the lack of qualified officers on campus.

Until Tuesday, Mac Cabral had been employed for six months as a Silverado campus security guard. He said in that time he confiscated at least four knives from students, and broke up several fights.

“They don’t walk on water at Silverado. I’ve also turned in fireworks that could be exploded. They put them in apples to make them like little bombs,” Cabral said.

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A day after fighting between black and Latino students, extra security was called in Wednesday at Fremont High School to quell possible disturbances, and administrators attempted to reduce tensions on campus.

On Tuesday, five fights broke out among dozens of Latino and black students and grew into a brawl involving about 100 students. Administrators locked down the campus and dismissed students in small groups at the end of the day. There were no incidents Wednesday.

School police and administrators are trying to determine whether the fight was caused by gang rivalries or racial tensions.

This was the campus’ first such incident, said Carol Truscott, the local District 7 superintendent.

“It’s not the norm,” Truscott said.

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