SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – The stabbing death of a 16-year-old student at a high school in Santa Rosa has given rise to complaints that the school didn't act soon enough.
The Santa Rosa community is shaken after Jayden Pienta, a junior at Montgomery High School, was killed on Wednesday following a violent fight in an art classroom. A small memorial sits around the flagpole at Montgomery with candles, balloons and photos of Penta. Classes have been canceled for the rest of the week and a vigil was held on campus last night.
The 16-year-old was killed after he and another student entered an art class they weren't enrolled in and engaged in a fight with a third student who had a knife.
"He was just outgoing, he was a good kid," said Harry Edwards, Pienta's grandfather.
Harry told KCBS Radio tensions had been brewing. "He had some conflict earlier during the week with the kid or something," he said. "I don't see why the school didn't do something about that. They stabbed all his tires and stuff on his car."
Like many schools, in the wake of 2020's George Floyd protests, the Santa Rosa School Board voted to remove school resource officers from campus. Santa Rosa Police Chief John Cregan said he'd like that decision revisited.
"Officers are patrolling 42 square miles of this city on a daily basis, with over 110,000 calls for service last year," he said, adding that the department is fed up with what they call "district inaction" over a rise in fights, threats and aggression.
Students in Santa Rosa district-wide have planned a morning walkout in protest tomorrow.
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