Detectives on Thursday were investigating what prompted a fight between three students at a Northern California high school that ended in one fatally stabbing another as more than two dozen classmates watched.
\nA 15-year-old freshman was booked on suspicion of homicide and other charges in connection with Wednesday\u2019s fatal stabbing in an art classroom at Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa, California. One 16-year-old junior was killed and another injured, police said.
\nThe attack shocked Santa Rosa \u2014 a community best known for its wineries about 50 miles (80.5 kilometers) north of San Francisco \u2014 and prompted lockdowns of several nearby schools as officers searched for the teenage suspect.
\nThe school will be closed for the rest of the week. Principal Adam Paulson, in a message to parents, students and the school community, called the stabbing \u201cthe darkest day anyone can remember at Montgomery High,\u201d according to the Press-Democrat.
\nThe deceased victim was identified as Jayden Jess Pienta, 16, according to Santa Rosa police. He was a junior. The victim who survived the stabbing is also a 16-year-old junior.
\nJayden\u2019s stepfather, Tom Lenwell, told KTVU he was reeling from the violence.
\n\u201cI\u2019m hurt. I\u2019m sad. I\u2019m never going to see Jayden again,\u201d Lenwell told reporters. \u201cI\u2019m not going to be able to joke and laugh with him. Those days are gone.\u201d
\nSanta Rosa Police Sgt. Christopher Mahurin on Thursday said investigators are working to interview the 27 students who were inside the classroom at the time, as well as the teacher and teacher\u2019s aides.
\nMembers of the New Vintage Church gathered Thursday morning to pray for the school community.
\nOfficers will be on the school\u2019s campus Monday when it reopens, Mahurin said.
\nBut some parents said they wanted to hear more about the school\u2019s plans and also would press the school board about children\u2019s safety at next week\u2019s meeting.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t feel like the school district\u2019s had any response,\u201d said Libby Dalton, whose 16-year-old son is a sophomore. \u201cThey canceled school for two days but what\u2019s next? How are they going to keep our kids safe after that?\u201d
\nParents were feeling \u201cfear, anger and a lot of frustration,\u201d Dalton said, adding that there were already safety concerns after a student brought a gun to school last year.
\nThe violence started when the two juniors came into the classroom and started a fight with the freshman, police said. Teachers initially broke up the brawl but the freshman then pulled out a knife and allegedly stabbed the juniors.
\nMahurin said detectives have not yet discovered why the upperclassmen began the brawl, though the three students appear to have known each other and had fought previously.
\nDalton said her son knew the students involved but they weren\u2019t in his grade and she didn\u2019t know what sparked the dispute.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of fights at Montgomery,\u201d she added. \u201cThey just have that culture there that they fight. The kids fight there. They pick on each other and they try and stand up for themselves and then they all end up suspended.\u201d
\nHer son was suspended for a day after he fought back after being picked on in the boy\u2019s locker room, she said.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s no discipline for the bullies,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what went on between those three boys but they definitely don\u2019t support the kids that do get picked on.\u201d
\nSanta Rosa police have not released the name of the 15-year-old student, a freshman, because he is a juvenile. He was booked on felony charges of homicide, attempted homicide and having a weapon on a school campus. He was additionally booked on a misdemeanor charge of battery on a school campus.
\nThe teenager was taken into custody Wednesday hiding in a creek bed after he fled the classroom. It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
\nThe Sonoma County District Attorney\u2019s Office did not immediately have a comment Thursday about the potential filing of charges.
\n\u201cThis is truly a sad day. The tragedy that happened here today is heartbreaking,\u201d Anna Trunnell, the Santa Rosa City Schools superintendent, said at a news conference.
\nSeveral students raised questions at the news conference about their safety and asked why school officials did not do more to stop the students\u2019 behavior despite knowing there were problems between the three teens. The officials walked out instead of answering.
\nOfficials had earlier said none of the campuses in the Santa Rosa City Schools District have metal detectors or police officers inside.
\nThere were no mentions of the violence on the district\u2019s website or social media accounts on Thursday morning. A Facebook page for Montgomery High School appeared to have been taken down.
\nPaulson, the high school\u2019s principal, and Santa Rosa City School District spokeswoman Vanessa Wedderburn didn\u2019t answer voice and email messages seeking comment Thursday.
\nWith more than 1,600 students, Montgomery High School is the second largest school in Santa Rosa and in need of major repairs, according to a report published by The Press-Democrat last week.
\nThe school, built in 1958, has exposed wires hanging from the rafters in hallways, wooden skirting around the foundation of old portable classrooms is rotting and students often must wait to get home to go to the bathroom because the ones at the school are foul smelling and there aren\u2019t enough available, according to students who spoke to the newspaper.
\nLisa Cavin, associate superintendent of business services for the Santa Rosa City Schools district, told the newspaper the district hasn\u2019t had the funds for some projects over the years and that constant vandalism diverts money.<\/p>\n
Apnews<\/p>\n
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