BILLINGS — More than two months after a stabbing inside a classroom at Senior High School left a teacher and an 18-year-old student hospitalized, Billings police have not made any arrests or filed charges.
The January altercation in teacher Jason Rader's classroom stunned the community. Rader and the student, who has not been publicly identified, were rushed to the hospital with stab wounds.
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Billings Police Chief Rich St. John said the case is complicated, adding that much of the confusion began at the beginning of the incident.
"Our officers were responding to what they believe is a mass casualty event at a high school," St. John said. "It is a significant event at a school so it drew in a lot of attention."
Detectives are currently sorting through extensive evidence, a massive initial police response, and conflicting accounts from students and staff. All are reasons why St. John said it's taken some time to file charges.
"There are cases that move very quickly, and the reason for that is that they're pretty clear cut," St. John said. "Just the magnitude of the response and what we're trying to sort through, adds time on the front end."
Despite what some may perceive as delays, St. John insists his department is staying on track for a case of this complexity.
"I think what's important to know is that we haven't stopped working on it," St. John said. " We are closer than not to completing our part of this, and when we are done, again it'll be professional, it'll be thorough and it'll be doing justice to everyone involved."
Chief Deputy County Attorney Hallie Bishop at the Yellowstone County Attorney's Office is waiting for the case file so that she and her colleagues can get to work.
"We obviously communicate and talk, but until the case gets presented to our office, there's not a lot we can do," Bishop said.
Bishop cautioned that there will be more of a wait after the case is turned over to her office by police. She said that complicated cases rarely follow speedy Hollywood timelines, contrary to public belief. It's a phenomenon she calls the "CSI effect."
"Where something gets done on TV like that," Bishop said with a snap of her fingers. "That's not necessarily the case in real life."
Once her office receives the case, prosecutors will double-check every detail.
"We get the case and we've gotta go back through everything they've done and double check and make sure that we're all on the same page," Bishop said.
Bishop said the process can take time, referencing a high-profile homicide at Berry's Cherries Carnival in May of 2023, which she worked on for two months after the case had been turned over the office, coming to a decision in 2024.
"That one had a very extensive amount of discovery," Bishop said.
Tuesday evening, Billings Schools Superintendent Dr. Erwin Garcia confirmed to MTN that neither teacher nor student have returned to school since the incident.
While rumors persist, St. John is confident the truth will eventually prevail.
"A lot of that ancillary noise is just that. It provides a back story, but at the end of the day, who did what? And why? That's what we're trying to sort out," St. John said.
