LOS ANGELES — A former student allegedly stabbed three staff members at a Torrance school for children with special needs Monday and threatened that he had a pipe bomb before he was taken into police custody, according to authorities.

The unidentified suspect carried out his attack at Switzer Learning Center around 8:30 a.m. The suspect allegedly tried to stab a fourth person at the campus before running away, according to the Torrance Police Department. Two of the victims were taken to Harbor General Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, and the third victim was treated at the scene by paramedics with the Torrance Fire Department.

It’s unclear what type of weapon was used, but the suspect was taken into custody shortly after the attack, according to police. Video posted to social media showed a large police presence outside the campus, and news helicopter footage showed what appeared to be a knife on the ground outside a building.

While the suspect was being taken into custody, he claimed that he had placed two pipe bombs near 208th Street and Amapola Avenue, according to authorities. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was called to search the scene.

Switzer Learning Center specializes in serving students who are autistic and neurodivergent. Students are taught by a team of credentialed special education teachers, licensed therapists, licensed speech therapists and others, according to the school’s website.

The school sits in a business park in a cul-de-sac, wedged between commercial buildings.

Parent Cristina Morales, 54, waited at 205th Street and Amapola Avenue for her 18-year-old son, Francisco Morales, who is autistic. She had been waiting for nearly two hours for her son to be released from the school.

“I’m nervous,” she said. “My son gets stressed out easily.”

She said she was dropping off another son at Cal State Dominguez Hills when she got a call from her daughter, who said she had received a call from Francisco.

“She told me that a student had brought a knife and wanted to stab other students,” she said. “My son ran and hid.”

She said as of 10 a.m. all the students had been accounted for and were being held somewhere in the learning center. Switzer Learning Center did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Morales said she was shocked by the stabbing and wondered what prompted the incident. She said she hadn’t heard or seen students ever being mistreated at the school.

There were no immediate reports of student injuries. Switzer Learning Center is a private school that is not part of the Torrance Unified School District.

Meanwhile, near the same intersection, members of a police bomb squad unit were investigating an item left outside a business. By 10:44 a.m., out of precaution, Torrance police asked everyone standing outside to leave the area or stand behind a building for cover.

Just after 11:30 a.m. authorities detonated something at the scene, but it’s unclear what it was.

Taking a smoke break, Ernesto Cardiel, 49, said he was driving through the area in the morning when he noticed police blocking off 208th Street and Amapola Avenue.

“I saw a minivan and a police officer talking to a woman sitting on the corner,” he said. “I thought it was a car accident.”

Cardiel raised his eyebrows when he learned about the incident.

“That’s pretty awful,” he said.

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