Santa Rosa parents call for more school safety protocols after teen arrested for making "ghost guns"
Parents in a North Bay school district are demanding action after the recent arrest of yet another student, this time for making "ghost guns" with a 3D printer.
Longtime Santa Rosa resident Melissa Stewart is deeply worried about her children's safety at school. This concern led her to take action and co-found the Safe Campus Alliance, a parent's group advocating for improved safety measures in schools.
"The tipping point was realizing that there were no safety protocols in place that we felt like the school district should have implemented," Stewart explained.
Recent events have only intensified these concerns. A day after a 14-year-old Montgomery High student was arrested for allegedly manufacturing firearms using a 3D printer, Stewart and other members of the Safe Campus Alliance met to address the issue.
"It's what's happening in Sonoma County. It's what happened in a lot of cities, so it's not just a Montgomery High School issue. Ghosts guns are a real thing. Some adults and teenagers are printing these and getting them on our city streets," Stewart said.
According to Santa Rosa Police, the teen was arrested at Montgomery High School after a search of his house yielded a 3D printer, a lower receiver for a firearm, and a partially completed firearm handle.
The Wednesday arrest was just the latest in a long string of crimes involving teens who attend Montgomery High School over the past year. In March 2023, a student at the school was fatally stabbed during a fight with two other students on campus.
In September 2023, two Montgomery High students who are brothers were arrested, after one of the brothers was suspected in a fight at a nearby middle school campus and the second brother was found to be in possession of an assault rifle.
Last month, police arrested a 14-year-old student at the school after she allegedly led a group assault on another 14-year-old girl in a campus restroom.
Stewart emphasized the need for a more aggressive approach to ensure students' safety.
"I keep thinking that we can do better, and that's what keeps us going. We believe that all students should feel safe at school, and they don't," she stated.
Rebecca Sullivan, a health technician at Montgomery High School and a member of the Safe Campus Alliance, echoed these sentiments.
"I think about that every day. Like, if I wasn't there and my daughter was in a lockdown or another stabbing happened and God forbid a shooting happened, I would never forgive myself if I quit now and left my daughter there to deal with it," Sullivan said.
Sullivan advocated for the reinstatement of school resource officers (SROs) on campus, emphasizing their positive impact on student safety.
"We saw how easy it was to bring the SRO back on campus. Our district did that overnight after last year. And it was a good thing on our campus, and we saw the reaction that our students had to have the SRO. They were grateful," she explained.
Stewart concurred, emphasizing that students deserve to return to a normal life without fear of lockdowns, active shooters, or gangs.
"They're facing the issues, but they also want to move on with their lives, and they want to know that they can come to school and be in fear of a lockdown, or an active shooter or weapons or gangs," Stewart concluded.
The increased gang violence among youth in Santa Rosa led to the recent reinstatement of the police department's Gang Crimes Team.