Boy, 9, fatally stabbed on Mich. playground by 12-year-old

KENTWOOD, Mich., Aug. 5 (UPI) -- A 12-year-old fatally stabbed a younger boy on a playground and then went to a nearby house to call 911, police in Kentwood, Mich., said.

Michael Conner Verkerke, 9, died Monday evening at a hospital shortly after he was stabbed. Police Chief Tom Hillen said the 12-year-old came up to him on the playground at about 6 p.m. and stabbed him in the back "repeatedly" with no apparent warning.

Michael ran home, collapsing on the porch. The alleged attacker went to a nearby house and asked Glen Stacy if he could use his phone.

"I just stabbed somebody. Please pick me up," Stacy recalled the boy saying.

The witnesses include two children, 9 and 7, who were playing with Michael when he was stabbed.

"This is a true tragedy," Hillen said. "You struggle to understand how and why something like this could happen."

The 12-year-old is being held in juvenile detention.