TX - Austin Metcalf - 17 - fatally stabbed at track meet, 2 April 2025

[imstilla.grandma]

 

[Chimera]

Comments by KA’s dad -

“Everyone has already made their assumptions about my son, but he’s not what they’re making him out to be,” Andrew Anthony to The Post.
(…)
“He’s a good kid. He works two jobs. He’s an A student, has a 3.7 GPA,” the heartbroken dad said.
(…)
Anthony also extended sympathy to Miller’s family.

“I feel bad for the other parents and family, and words can’t explain how both [families] have been affected by this tragedy.”

MSN

Yeah, well...
That is unfortunately not what Karmelo's going to be remembered for !
Imo.

 

[tara83]

Yeah, well...
That is unfortunately not what Karmelo's going to be remembered for !
Imo.

Someone needs to ask him why this great young man brought a knife to a track meet.

 

[Chimera]

Fundraiser for Texas football star Austin Metcalf’s accused killer rakes in $60,000 as he claims self-defense

The GiveSendGo campaign was purportedly set up by the family of Karmelo Anthony, 17, who cops say confessed to the horrific stabbing at a track meet in Frisco, Texas, last Wednesday.

nypost.com

Many of the commenters claimed that Anthony had been bullied by Metcalf before the 17-year-old allegedly pulled a knife and stabbed Metcalf in the heart.
Metcalf’s family said he had never met Anthony before.
Rbm.
Re. the bolded : Riiight.

I'm going with the victim's family stating they were strangers to each other.

Also agreed with above posts suggesting the perp may have been looking to rob someone of their belongings.
Wondering what kind of upbringing Karmelo had to even consider murdering someone-- as a viable option ?
A gang initiation ?
Did Karmelo feel disrespected ?

Also the question remains as to why he had a knife at a track meet.
Imo.
Omo.

 

[sunspun]

Did they say what kind of knife it was?

 

[katydid23]

Fundraiser for Texas football star Austin Metcalf’s accused killer rakes in $60,000 as he claims self-defense

The GiveSendGo campaign was purportedly set up by the family of Karmelo Anthony, 17, who cops say confessed to the horrific stabbing at a track meet in Frisco, Texas, last Wednesday.

nypost.com

Many of the commenters claimed that Anthony had been bullied by Metcalf before the 17-year-old allegedly pulled a knife and stabbed Metcalf in the heart.
Metcalf’s family said he had never met Anthony before.
Rbm.
Re. the bolded : Riiight.

I'm going with the victim's family stating they were strangers to each other.

Also agreed with above posts suggesting the perp may have been looking to rob someone of their belongings.
Wondering what kind of upbringing Karmelo had to even consider murdering someone-- as a viable option ?
A gang initiation ?
Did Karmelo feel disrespected ?

Also the question remains as to why he had a knife at a track meet.
Imo.
Omo.

If the victim was being 'bullied' by Metcalf, why would he go all alone to Metcalf's tent? That doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Cryptic]

Did they say what kind of knife it was?

I am guessing that is was a fixed blade type knife as none of the reports describe him as "opening a knife" or other similar verbiage. Rather, the reports describe him as immediately stabbing the victim.

 

[Chimera]

If the victim was being 'bullied' by Metcalf, why would he go all alone to Metcalf's tent? That doesn't make sense to me.

Exactly.

I am guessing that is was a fixed blade type knife as none of the reports describe him as "opening a knife" or other similar verbiage. Rather, the reports describe him as immediately stabbing the victim.

IMO -- The perp came prepared for a fight !
A injury-causing (teach someone/anyone a lesson ?) ... or even a lethal fight.
Omo.

 

[airportwoman]

I'm wondering how many of the people who are praising, or at least not criticizing, the stabber are actually trolls.

 

[mickey2942]

I am guessing that is was a fixed blade type knife as none of the reports describe him as "opening a knife" or other similar verbiage. Rather, the reports describe him as immediately stabbing the victim.

I have seen students at school with 6 inch knives. Dagger type, with a jagged edge on one side.

I don't understand it. In this case, I almost believe the studies about teen brains not completely formed. It seems like a knife stabbing can go pretty fast, not unlike that movie, "Pay It Forward", in the end, the main character is stabbed, and dies, and it seems like the kid with the knife, didn't really comprehend that he killed someone that fast.

 

[Ontario Mom]

I'm wondering how many of the people who are praising, or at least not criticizing, the stabber are actually trolls.

Last I checked, trolls don't actually donate cash to fundraising sites so... some of these people are the same exact mentality as the folks supporting/defending Luigi Mangione for his act of cold blooded murder. It's genuinely disturbing.

jmo

 

[Ontario Mom]

I have seen students at school with 6 inch knives. Dagger type, with a jagged edge on one side.

I don't understand it. In this case, I almost believe the studies about teen brains not completely formed. It seems like a knife stabbing can go pretty fast, not unlike that movie, "Pay It Forward", in the end, the main character is stabbed, and dies, and it seems like the kid with the knife, didn't really comprehend that he killed someone that fast.

In this case, the kid with the knife knew well enough to RUN after he stabbed him, so he knew enough to know it was wrong, regardless of brain maturity.

 

[tlcya]

Fundraiser for Texas football star Austin Metcalf’s accused killer rakes in $60,000 as he claims self-defense

The GiveSendGo campaign was purportedly set up by the family of Karmelo Anthony, 17, who cops say confessed to the horrific stabbing at a track meet in Frisco, Texas, last Wednesday.

nypost.com

Many of the commenters claimed that Anthony had been bullied by Metcalf before the 17-year-old allegedly pulled a knife and stabbed Metcalf in the heart.
Metcalf’s family said he had never met Anthony before.
Rbm.
Re. the bolded : Riiight.

I'm going with the victim's family stating they were strangers to each other.

Also agreed with above posts suggesting the perp may have been looking to rob someone of their belongings.
Wondering what kind of upbringing Karmelo had to even consider murdering someone-- as a viable option ?
A gang initiation ?
Did Karmelo feel disrespected ?

Also the question remains as to why he had a knife at a track meet.
Imo.
Omo.

So he went to the opposing team tent/seating area where his alleged bully was, and coincidently brought a knife? yeah not buying this fresh mitigator. The alleged bully is conveniently (for Anthony) dead and can't exactly defend against these allegations.

 

[mickey2942]

In this case, the kid with the knife knew well enough to RUN after he stabbed him, so he knew enough to know it was wrong, regardless of brain maturity.

Agreed. He killed another person. I wonder about his age. He looks 18 to me, wonder if he will be charged as an adult.

I can't imagine the pain of the victim's family, and twin brother. Such a needless tragedy.

 

[Ontario Mom]

Agreed. He killed another person. I wonder about his age. He looks 18 to me, wonder if he will be charged as an adult.

I can't imagine the pain of the victim's family, and twin brother. Such a needless tragedy.

I believe the MSM articles list his age as 17.
Likewise, I can't imagine the grief for his family, and for the murderer's family.

 

[LordMo]

Yeah I was short earlier with the dad's statement but that wasn't fair of me, I can't even begin to understand what he and his family are going through.

 

[Teche]

So he went to the opposing team tent/seating area where his alleged bully was, and coincidently brought a knife? yeah not buying this fresh mitigator. The alleged bully is conveniently (for Anthony) dead and can't exactly defend against these allegations.

Has it been reported when Anthony alleged he was bullied by the victim? Before joining the opposing team at the tent or once he sat down?

 

[Ontario Mom]

Has it been reported when Anthony alleged he was bullied by the victim? Before joining the opposing team at the tent or once he sat down?

From all I've read, he never actually said he was bullied by the young man he murdered.
It was other people making that claim, and defending him.
Granted, I haven't read every single media article but so far, I haven't seen where he said that.

 

[AppleTreeGreen]

Fact Sheet on Location-Restricted Knives at School

Learn about criminal and disciplinary consequences of carrying location-restricted knives at school in this fact sheet.

www.tasb.org

Student suspended for bringing pocket knife to school

SMITH COUNTY (KYTX) - According to the police report, the student had a small pocket knife. The knife was reported to school officials. In a statement from the school about the incident says:

www.cbs19.tv

RIP to Austin Metcalf. This young man shouldn’t have lost his life and no parents should have to bury a child.

I do not understand why AK had a knife on him. I read that Texas law allows for open carry of knives of 5.5 but that law only applies to individuals 18 years old and up and does not apply to restricted locations such as schools and schools events so regardless it was illegal for AK to have the weapon on him.

As for him sitting under the other team’s tent I was under the impression he was getting shelter from the rain but I could be wrong. When I did track and field in high school my teammates and I would often visit and sometimes even sit with other teams (often to vent and make jokes because those track meets were entirely too long). However, we fortunately had a system in place where we would leave our belongings with closest to one or more of the assistant coaches who would keep and eye on them. I am not sure what type of system these schools and systems had but it kept us from worrying about our stuff getting stolen.

Of course, there were exceptions, such teams my school was already very competitive against so we didn’t mingle as much with but since many of has had friends from middle school and such who attended the other high schools or even dated team members from competing teams and schools it didn’t seem like that big a deal to hang out with them or in their area.

Also, when it rained, particularly when it rained hard, we pretty much huddled under the closest tent or shelter we could find until the storm let up. It seemed well understood that no one wanted to get wet, especially when you are wearing a thin uniform or track suit and the weather was already cold before the storm.

Perhaps it was just a different time and culture and even though he technically not obliged to leave, as others have pointed out the bleachers and space is available to everyone so anyone, even opposing team members can sit wherever they want, AK should have just left and sought shelter elsewhere when asked. Also, instead of AM approaching him perhaps it would have been better that a coach or assistant coach or some adult have done so and where were they at the time AK was being asked to leave the tent area?

I can’t help but think how this situation involved two young men, teenagers, and teenagers can tend to be reactive, emotionally immature and impulsive. This is part of the reason why them having access to and carrying around weapons or potentially dangerous tools is such a concern in terms of safety and public health. They often react first and think secondly or even thirdly which is understandable at that age since their brains are still developing and they as people are still maturing cognitively, emotionally and mentally. This leads me to wonder if perhaps these factors could have contributed also to the conflict, like they have done many times before when it comes to physical fights between teenagers in the past. Did AK react with stubbornness, offense or pride when responding no when asked to leave the first time? Did AM react to annoyance or anger when told no by trying to physically push AK out? A lot of teens are not equipped just yet with conflict resolution maneuvers so perhaps if adult had stepped in to deescalated tension as they separated two boys and found a way to convince AK to leave or have him removed from the tent. Hindsight is 20/20 but someone in charge did see AK allude to some type of threat or weapon in his bag or AM start to physically push him they should have stepped in as both are warning signs that things could escalate and get even worse.

Additionally, I still don’t understand why AK thought he had to bring the knife out instead of pushing AM back or shouting and raising scene in front of everyone (that often can get people to stop their actions also as they get startled or don’t want to draw attention to themselves). Furthermore, even though AM shouldn’t have laid his hands on AK, this by no means justifies him getting fatally stabbed and losing his life.

Even though AK’s father said his son did not know the victim beforehand, I read too that both boys were football players on their school teams which makes me wonder if they did know or run into each other and had some previous conflict before before, during or after a game? Did their teams have any conflict with each other outside of playing the sport? Did AK have any personal vendetta against their team or school and did that play a role in the violence that was carried out? It is possible that AK’s father does not know everything about his son or what goes on among his team or team members which is why I pondered on these thoughts.

JMO/JMT

 

[Tower]

Your area and track meets sound alot like Frisco. Which is why the attack is so shocking having occurred there. And like you emphasized, Track has a different ethos than other sports. Thus, adding to the shock

Some of the difference might be due to state culture. Texas takes sports seriously. Maybe more confrontation fuel due to more juiced up parents and more students who are athlete- students in their glory days and not student- athletes?

Then factor in even slight differences in our areas. Our school is over all low income, led the state in Fentanyl deaths, and has had students shot (off campus) We mostly play schools with similar problems to our own.

So....coaches are more proactive and tend to apply the "Little good happens after midnight" approach to violations of seating norms and team areas- especially with boys.

No active shooter type response. Rather, just a: "Male student(s) sitting in another teams area? They just don't need to be there. Nothing productive is likely to happen." type approach.

Likewise, as @daybreaking pointed out, there is the gear. Lower over all income in our area makes phones, ear pods, cool shoes and Nike stuff that more tempting. Thus, one more reason for the "They just do not need to be there" proactiveness.

Yes, I agree with all you said. There are coaches and team managers (volunteer parents) in the tent area and I have no doubt they would tell a kid who didn’t belong to leave. But kids from different schools often run on club teams together or just become friendly, so there is plenty of positive hanging out, chatting and snacking under the tent with other teams as well.

We had 12+ seniors go D1 last year and our girls won state (our boys did in 2021), so there is definitely intense competition that could fuel strong emotions. I think having assertive and watchful adults keeping the kids on a tight leash benefits everyone. If a coach had been close and immediately intervened in this tragic situation, the outcome may have been different.