Students return to Vallejo High after coach shot while breaking up fight
VALLEJO – Under increased security, students were back on campus at Vallejo High School Wednesday, one day after a football coach and staff member was shot.
School staff members, who did not want to be identified, told KPIX 5 it was a group of non-students who came to campus just after three o'clock, looking to fight someone on campus.
A member of the football coaching staff intervened and broke up the fight, but as everyone scattered, there was gunfire.
"My heart dropped," said Brandie Jones, describing how she felt showing up to campus Tuesday. "Just the fear of…praying that it wasn't my child."
Parents like Jones arrived to pick up their children, only to find an active crime scene. The wounded staff member is said to be Joe Pastrana, defensive coordinator for the school football team.
"And he was innocent," Jones said. "All he was trying to do, from my understanding, was stop the chaos. Gladly, I heard he's recovering fine, but it was just too close to home."
"We had extra security on staff," explained Celina Baguiao of Vallejo City Unified Schools. "We also had Vallejo Police patrolling the area."
For parents arriving the day after, there were plenty of police cruisers on the street. And while the school was staffed with added security and support resources, attendance was down.
"We are short about a third of our students," Baguiao said. "We don't know exactly why."
That was not the case among Vallejo High's teachers, all of whom showed up.
"They all did," Baguiao said. "All staff showed up today to support the community. So, something horrible happened yesterday, and everybody showed up, and I think that says a lot about this community."
"I just wish we could have a better and safer community," Jones said. "The shootings need to stop. It's just too much."
KPIX 5 reached out to Vallejo Police for an update on the investigation. As of Wednesday afternoon they said there was nothing new to pass along.
