Student, 16, dies in stabbing at Montgomery High School, 2nd student injured, Santa Rosa police chief confirms

A 16-year-old student has died and another student injured after a Wednesday fight that ended in a stabbing at the Santa Rosa high school.|

A student died Wednesday in a stabbing at Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa. For the latest story, click here.

8:35 p.m.: Police late Wednesday identified the deceased victim as Jayden Jess Pienta, 16, of Santa Rosa.

Here are the earlier breaking updates:

3:27 p.m.: Press conference ends. Santa Rosa Schools Superintendent Anna Trunnell says the district will decide by 6 p.m. whether to resume classes at Montgomery on Thursday.

3:25 p.m.: Police chief, Santa Rosa Mayor Natalie Rogers and school officials attending the press conference abruptly left the scene. Students are asking why school officials are not around to address the safety issues.

3:20 p.m.: Students pose questions about their safety and why more wasn’t being done to address the behavior of the students involved.

3:15 p.m.: Cregan reports that the incident occurred at about 11:11 a.m. and took place in an art class inside Montgomery High School. Two students at the school entered the classroom, where 27 other students were, and engaged in a fight with a freshman student in the class.

The freshman student produced a knife and the two students who entered the classroom were stabbed. One student was stabbed three times in the upper torso. The other student was stabbed in the hand.

Cregan said the 15-year-old suspect was located in the area of the creek behind St. Eugene’s Cathedral School at about 11:51 a.m. Officials have not located the weapon.

3 p.m.: Santa Rosa Police Department is holding press conference on fatal stabbing this morning at Montgomery High School.

2:45 p.m.: Santa Rosa Police Chief John Cregan has confirmed that a 16-year-old student at Montgomery High School has died in a stabbing incident Wednesday morning.

A second 16-year-old student was also stabbed but survived.

Cregan said a 15-year-old boy is in custody.

——————

Read the original story below:

Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa has canceled classes and after-school activities for the remainder of Wednesday following a lockdown of its campus earlier in the day.

A fight between at least two students inside a classroom at Montgomery High School resulted in an injury and led to the lockdown, Santa Rosa Police Department spokesperson Chris Mahurin said.

Mahurin did not provide further details regarding the student’s injury, though other area schools reported in communications to parents and faculty that a Montgomery student had been stabbed.

Montgomery High School, located on Hahman Drive in east Santa Rosa, entered a full lockdown of its campus shortly after 11 a.m. Wednesday, which led to lockdowns of multiple other local schools.

Officers found and detained a suspect related to the incident, who had fled from the school, Mahurin confirmed just after noon. The suspect was located off campus, he said.

Santa Rosa police will hold a press conference at 3 p.m. outside the school, according to Mahurin.

There has not yet been confirmation that the other Santa Rosa schools’ lockdowns have ended.

Brook Hill Elementary, Herbert Slater Middle School and Santa Rosa French-American Charter School were locked down for approximately 30 minutes due to their proximity to Montgomery, said Vanessa Wedderburn, the district's spokesperson. Those students are now back in class and Montgomery students are in the process of being reunified with their families.

Manzanita Elementary, Village Elementary and Spring Lake Middle schools were briefly placed on lockdown, which lifted after noon, according to the Rincon Valley Unified School District.

Strawberry and Yulupa elementary schools went on lockdown, as well, and were also lifted shortly after noon, according to an email to parents sent by officials with the Bennett Valley Unified School District.

A Press Democrat reporter and photographer were at Montgomery High School, located along Hahman Drive in east Santa Rosa. More than a dozen Santa Rosa police vehicles were parked in front of the school, but nobody else was outside on the campus.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.