3 Santa Rosa middle school students arrested after classroom fight involving knife
SANTA ROSA – Three students at a middle school in Santa Rosa were placed under arrest Thursday following a classroom fight in which a student brandished what was described as a large knife.
Around 8:25 a.m., officers were called to the campus of Herbert Slater Middle School on reports of a fight, that one of the students involved had brandished a knife and that the student was seen running off campus. According to police, initial reports stated no students were injured or assaulted with the knife.
School administrators immediately placed the school under lockdown as the principal and other staff followed the teen into the neighborhood.
Responding officers searched for the teen and went to the school to investigate.
According to a preliminary investigation, two 13-year-old male students entered a classroom at the start of first period, approaching another 13-year-old male. Police said the two students punched the third student, knocking him to the ground.
The two students left the classroom as the teacher was calling for help. Police said the teen who was initially attacked followed them into the hallway, brandished a large kitchen knife and attempted to lunge toward one of students who fought him.
Police said a teacher intervened and de-escalated the situation by standing between the students. The teens then left the area in separate directions.
School administrators followed the armed student, telling him multiple times to surrender the knife as he walked into the neighborhood. Police said the teen threw the knife to the ground, which was recovered by school employees.
The teen was later found near Sonoma Avenue and Colorado Boulevard and was taken into custody without incident. Meanwhile, the other two teens involved in the fight were detained on campus.
All three teens were students at the school and were arrested. Their names were not released due to their ages.
In a statement, police said the incident was possibly gang related. The case remains under investigation.
Thursday's fight is the latest incident involving knives at Santa Rosa schools. On November 30, police responded to separate knife incidents at two separate high school campuses.
At Santa Rosa High School, a 14-year-old student was stabbed near the school's baseball field, in an incident that appeared to be gang-related. Police said the victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries and the suspect, a 16-year-old, was later arrested.
On the same day, police responded to Montgomery High School after a 14-year-old was found with a knife in his backpack. The teen was booked into juvenile hall.
Montgomery High School was also the scene of a stabbing in March, where a 16-year-old student died after being stabbed by a classmate.