The following information was gleaned from the Frisco police reports written about the incident on the day it happened.
On April 2, 2025, two young men, Austin Metcalf of Frisco Memorial High School and Karmelo Anthony of Centennial High School were involved in an altercation. The altercation reportedly took place at the Memorial High School Tent in the visitors bleachers at David Kuykendall Stadium, located between the two schools. It was about 10 A.M. and raining.
The two schools are about 7 miles apart in Frisco, north of Dallas, in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.
From a witness of the altercation, as recorded in the police report:
“Austin had told Anthony that he needed to move out from under their team’s tent and Anthony grabbed his bag, opened it and reached inside and proceeded to tell Austin, “Touch me and see what happens.” No one really though Anthony really had any weapons in his bag and Austin proceeded to touch Anthony and then Anthony told Austin to punch him and see what happens. A short time later, Austin grabbed Anthony to tell him to move and Anthony pulled out what (redacted) recalled as a black knife and stabbed Austin once in the chest and then ran away.
Karmelo Anthony was approached by School Resource Officer E. Cortez, on the track at the north end of the stadium, not far from the bleachers, shortly after the event. From the police report:
The suspect at this point was on the track on the north end. There was a chain link fence that separated me from the suspect. I gave the suspect instructions to keep his hands in the air. During this time, the suspect said verbally out loud, “I was protecting myself”. It should be noted that I had not questioned him about the incident when he made that statement.
From the beginning of the interaction of the police with Karmelo Anthony, Anthony has claimed self-defense. This is similar to the situation with Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Kyle Rittenhouse turned himself into the police and always claimed self-defense. Police approached Karmelo Anthony shortly after the event. Kyle Rittenhouse attempted to turn himself into the police shortly after his self-defense shootings, but in the chaos of the ongoing riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the police told him to go home. Kyle Rittenhouse turned himself in to the police at his hometown.
From what we know so far, there are significant differences between the two cases.
The Kyle Rittenhouse events occurred in riot-torn Kenosha, Wisconsin, where the rule of law had broken down. Karmelo Anthony’s confrontation occurred at a high school stadium with a significant police presence.
Kyle Rittenhouse openly carried his AR15 rifle. Everyone who he shot knew he had the rifle when they attacked him. It appears Karmelo Anthony concealed the knife he had. Witnesses on the scene claim to not have known Karmelo was armed.
Kyle Rittenhouse retreated and ran from the people who attacked him. Karmelo Anthony appears to have issued a challenge to engage in a physical confrontation.
The events where Kyle Rittenhouse defended himself were all on video, often from multiple angles. The jury could see what happened from multiple angles. Most of the video was available just days after the events. No video of the altercation between Karmelo Anthony and Austin Metcalf has been released. One commentator has indicated there is video from several devices and it will eventually be released.
The people Kyle Rittenhouse shot had long criminal histories. Austin Metcalf was a model student without any criminal history.
Karmelo Anthony’s family immediately opened a GiveSendGo account which has had hundreds of thousands of dollars donated so far. Kyle Rittenhouse’s family opened a GoFundMe account which was taken down by GoFundme after tens of thousands of dollars had been donated. The Kyle Rittenhouse defense team was later able to open a GoFundMe account which eventually had hundreds of thousands of dollars donated to it.
Kyle Rittenhouse was pilloried and vilified in the Media. Karmelo Anthony and his claim of self defense has been treated with caution and respect.
A jury trial cleared Kyle Rittenhouse of all charges. It is far too early in the Karmelo Anthony case to know what the outcome will be.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
