Investigators are continuing to search for the motive in what caused a stabbing of two teenage boys near the campus of Pleasanton's Village High School Thursday afternoon and the arrest of a third for making the attack.

The victims, one 16 and the other 17, who have not been identified. are students at Village High and Amador Valley High. They were taken by ambulance to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, where they underwent surgery, The knife used in the attack may have pierced one of the victim's liver, it was reported.

The stabbing occurred outside the Pleasanton school district's graphics art and utility yard in the 4700 block of First Street, near Abbie at a time when high school classes were still in session. Police found the two victims, on the ground with stab wounds to their abdomens.

The injured teens as well as witnesses in the area named the attacker, Police Sgt. Jim Knox said. Authorities worked with school officials to track the suspect to the nearby Civic Square Apartments on Bernal Avenue.

The 16-year-old suspect, who is a student at Village High School, was arrested on two counts of assault with a deadly weapon for the stabbing of both victims and taken to Juvenile Hall after being identified in a lineup.

Police said that the three, all males, knew each other and the fight was part of an ongoing dispute, possible over a girlfriend.

"Both students are in stable condition," Cindy Galbo, Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services, reported yesterday.

Police and counselors were at all Pleasanton middle and high schools Friday to be supportive, she said.

"We are looking into it right now to understand what transpired and what led to it so we can address it," Galbo said.

Pleasanton police ask anyone with information to call them at 931-5100.

--Dolores Fox Ciardelli

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