Teen stabbed at Santa Rosa elementary school

An 18-year-old man was seriously wounded Saturday afternoon when he was stabbed repeatedly during a confrontation at a west Santa Rosa elementary school, Sonoma County sheriff’s officials said.

The man had split from his friends, who were skateboarding at Sheppard Elementary School in Santa Rosa’s Roseland district, to find a water fountain when he was confronted at the outdoor basketball court by about four unknown males, Lt. Al Vernon said. He was stabbed multiple times, at least once in his arm and several times in the upper torso, during the assault, which was reported at 1:35 p.m.

The attackers fled on foot before deputies arrived at the West Avenue school, Vernon said.

The man’s friends found him bleeding and initially thought he had fallen off his skateboard, Vernon said. He was taken with serious but nonlife-threatening injuries to a Santa Rosa hospital.

No eyewitnesses have come forward, although the campus was bustling with activity at the time of the attack, with a youth basketball league at the school and people arriving for a 2 p.m. Santa Rosa City Council candidates forum, Vernon said.

Deputies from the Sheriff’s Office MAGNET unit and Violent Crimes Investigations unit are investigating the attack. No arrests were reported late Saturday.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 707-521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.