3 students arrested after fight involving knife at Herbert Slater Middle School in Santa Rosa

Three Herbert Slater Middle School students were arrested by police Thursday morning after officials said two students started a gang-related fight inside a classroom with another schoolmate who ended up brandishing a knife.

No one was hurt, but the incident triggered a two-hour-long lockdown and shelter-in-place — and another outpouring of concern, especially from parents, around persistent safety issues plaguing campuses across the Santa Rosa City Schools.

Hours after the lockdown, district Superintendent Anna Trunnell announced she had requested a discussion on campus safety be added to the agenda of the Dec. 13 school board meeting.

Slater officials said the violence erupted on the Sonoma Avenue campus about 8:25 a.m., when two Slater students approached the classroom of a third student and initiated a fist fight at the doorway, according to police.

The third student followed the two attackers as they fled into the hallway, where he brandished “a large kitchen knife” and lunged at one of the aggressors, said Santa Rosa Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Patricia Seffens.

A teacher from the classroom stood between the students and de-escalated the situation before the students went their separate ways.

All three students were 13-year-old boys, Seffens said. Vanessa Wedderburn, spokesperson for Santa Rosa City Schools, confirmed all are Slater students.

A student who witnessed the fight said it broke out in the doorway of Classroom #30, during a first-period math class.

“We were all in class and they had the door shut,” the student said. Then another schoolmate who was not in her class ran to the door and banged on it while a classmate held it shut from the inside. “All we heard was screaming and it was one of the guys trying to get into the classroom.”

The pair of students punched the third student, knocking him to the ground, police said. As the teacher summoned help, the aggressors ran off and were pursued into the hallway by the boy who police said lunged at one of aggressors with a kitchen knife before the teacher intervened and the two sides separated.

The student with the knife ran off campus. School administrators followed him and he dropped the knife before police arrested him near Sonoma Avenue and Colorado Boulevard. The other two boys were arrested on campus.

On Friday, police announced the armed student had been arrested on suspicion of having a weapon on school grounds, assault with a deadly weapon and making threats.

The other two boys were arrested on suspicion of battery on school grounds.

Evidence that the encounter was gang-related, police said on Friday, included gang paraphernalia that included photos of gang-related graffiti. This was discovered at the home of the boy with the knife.

Police were notified about the fight about 8:25 a.m., Seffens said.

The school was immediately put into lockdown, while the police searched for the student with the knife, which police did not describe.

The lockdown was downgraded to a shelter-in-place around 9:10 a.m., which meant teachers could continue their instruction while remaining locked inside their classroom, according to Wedderburn.

Parents who had come to school after hearing about the lockdown gathered in the hallways to hear an announcement made over the loud speakers.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we’re going to keep the shelter in place,” a school official announced about 10 a.m.

It was the second shelter-in-place at Slater since the school year began.

Some parents waiting on campus let out sighs of frustration and even asked to speak to Trunnell, the district superintendent, who came to the school during the incident. Wedderburn said Trunnell was there acting as the incident commander, ensuring that things moved smoothly and that staff needs were being met.

Thursday’s shelter-in-place concluded at 10:37 a.m., and parents lined up outside of the school were allowed to take their children home. Classes continued for remaining students.

“Please be assured that we are working diligently with law enforcement and will continue to cooperate fully with their investigation, ” said Principal Ryan Partika in a written message to parents. “We remain committed to fostering a safe and secure environment for all students and staff at Slater.”

Still, Thursday’s lockdown is yet another incident raising concerns about student safety on Santa Rosa City Schools’ campuses.

The chain of events has eerie echoes to the fatal stabbing on Montgomery High School’s campus last spring, where a student was targeted by older students who entered his classroom.

A similar shelter-in-place occurred at Herbert Slater on Sept. 1, when Montgomery High School students and older juveniles entered the Herbert Slater campus to target a middle schooler. The assailants had made previous threats, including brandishing a weapon online.

And just over a week ago, an altercation led to a 14-year-old student being stabbed on Santa Rosa High School’s baseball field. The student had multiple lacerations to his torso that were not life threatening.

Before they were reunited with their children, parents voiced their fear, frustration and exhaustion as they gathered outside the school, where they anxiously checked their phones for texts from their kids.

Parent Kayla Morphis worried as she waited to hear from school officials as her 12-year-old daughter didn’t have her phone on her that day.

“I’m so frustrated ― The last time this happened, she had like a panic attack, and she couldn't even breathe ― I'm so sorry,” she said wiping away tears. “It's frustrating. And it’s the same thing we keep talking over and over again. And nothing's changing.”

Morphis’s daughter, Enalyiah Cardana, who was later reunited with her mother, was in the math class where the fight broke out.

“I was so scared,” she said, recalling the struggle.

Morphis said she is especially concerned about recent gang violence plaguing the school. “They’re little kids, you know. They shouldn't be in gangs and trying to stab each other.”

Parents and students presumed the incident was gang-related. Seffens, the police spokesperson, said detectives had reached that preliminary conclusion based on information gathered in their investigation, including a red bandanna worn by one of the boys Thursday — shown in a Facebook photo of him posted the same day, Seffens said.

Victor Aguilar, a father who was waiting to pick up his 13-year-old daughter from school said his number one concern was the lockdown’s impact on student mental health.

After the lockdown earlier this year, the recent Santa Rosa High school incident involving a knife, as well as the fatal stabbing at Montgomery last Spring, he said “there’s always something happening here.”

He and other parents decried what they said was inaction on school safety measures.

Trunnell’s announcement late Thursday on the Dec. 13 school board meeting acknowledged more must be done.

“The goal of this discussion will be to identify multiple strategies and safety measures that potentially include city and county partners,” Trunnell said in a letter to district families. “This conversation must happen in public and changes must take place. Efforts that have been put in place are well intentioned, but we need to amplify our work.”

Sgt. Matt Crosbie said police were conducting interviews with dozens of students Thursday. Authorities withheld the names of the arrested boys because they are minors. Police said they would detail specific charges once detectives have more information.

Two Santa Rosa police officers remained on campus for the rest of the school day, Wedderburn said. She added that Santa Rosa Police Chief John Cregan would choose an officer to be on campus Friday.

Staff Writers Madison Smalstig and Colin Atagi contributed to this story.

Report For America corps member Adriana Gutierrez covers education and child welfare issues for The Press Democrat. Reach her at Adriana.Gutierrez@PressDemocrat.com

You can reach Staff Writer Alana Minkler at 707-526-8531 or alana.minkler@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @alana_minkler.