16-year-old student killed in violent altercation at Santa Rosa's Montgomery High School (2023)

Cheryl Griffin, the grandmother of the deceased student, identified him as Jayden Pienta, 16, of Santa Rosa.

According to police, Jaydenand another student, 16, had gone into an art classroom to confront the 15-year-old boy when an altercation broke out among the three. About 27 students were in the classroom at the time. One teacher and three teacher aides stopped the fight briefly, but the 15-year-old pulled out a pocket knife and stabbed Jayden three times in the chest and the other 16-year-old boy in the left hand, police said.

The two stabbed teens left the classroom and went to the school office to seek help from the campus nurse, police said.

The 15-year-old suspect fled campus, getting beyond a major shopping district and hiding in a creek near St. Eugene's Cathedral as dozens of officers searched the neighborhoods with help from a sheriff's helicopter crew. Witnesses helped police find the boy hiding in the creek bed, police officials said.

Jayden was conscious and talking when police arrived, authorities said. Police Chief John Cregan said officers and school staff took steps to compress his wounds. He was treated with a chest seal and thentransported to the hospital around 11:30 a.m.

Senior Owen Seiberling told The Chronicle that he was withJaydenat the school office — and he questioned the treatment he received while there.

“I had to pick him up, he was gushing blood,” Seiberling said. At one point, Seiberling said, he tried to apply pressure to his Jayden’s wounds.

Police said all three teens involved had prior altercations and knew each other. Detectives were still investigating what led to the fight and how long the conflict may have been brewing.

“We’re going to get to the bottom about what was the motive of this and what led up to this,” Cregan said.

An email sent by administrators to Montgomery High School parents said all school activities would be canceled for the remainder of the day and parents would be notified later today if the cancellations would remain for the rest of the week.

A reunification center has been set up at the Montgomery High School football field, according to school officials.

“Saddened to hear a student was killed and another was injured at Montgomery High School today,” Rep. Mike Thompson, who represents California's Fourth Congressional District, said. “My thoughts are with the family and friends of the students, the entire Viking community, and our Santa Rosa schools in the wake of this attack.”

In June 2020, the Santa Rosa school board voted 7-0 to suspend the district’s partnership with the Santa Rosa Police Department, according to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. The move led to the removal of school resource officers on campuses amid protests sparked by the in-custody death of George Floyd.

Omar Medina, the school board member who spearheaded the effort to remove the officersfrom schools, said the main priority in response to Wednesday's stabbing was ensuring students are safe at the school.

“Right now our concern is that we address the mental health issues and provide any support services for our students so that they feel comfortable coming back to campus,” he said. “My heart goes out to all the victims and my heart is with them, as board members we serve out of love and we are committed to doing what we can to ensure we have that safe environment.”

When asked whether he was in support of bringing school resource officers (SROs) back to Santa Rosa schools, Medina responded by saying, “I’d have to first see the response to some of the concerns we initially sent to the city.”

The concerns at the time focused on the safety and educational impact of having police on campuses.

Medina added the board could engage law enforcement and the city in the conversation of bringing back the officers but he thought it was “bigger than just that. ... It’s not as simple as SROs or no SROs, there’s so many more variables involved.”

Medina added that superintendent Anna Trunnell and her staff we’re working on offering support services to students at Montgomery High School and other schools within the district.

“This is a larger issue that impacts not just students there but students throughout the district. It can be traumatic for the community and students everywhere,” he said.

In a statement posted on Facebook, the Santa Rosa Police Officer’s Association pleaded for the community to demand that schoolsbring back school resource officers.

The killing angered fellow students and parents, who grilled police at an afternoon news conference about why the school had seemed to allow a brewing conflict to fester.

“The school knew that these two have problems beforehand,” Harley Rodger, a 17-year-old senior told The Chronicle outside the school. “The school — it’s their job to keep us safe.”

Parents, neighbors, students and others gathered at the school to learn more about the violence. Parent Brittany Murray said she wanted to hear from police directly. “These poor kids have to come back to this school,” she said.

As dusk fell, families gathered on campus and placed roses, tulips and other blooms at the base of the school’s flag pole. The crowd was somber and emotional, sharing embraces and speaking in hushed voices. They wrote messages of support on a poster board in honor of Jayden.

A boy in white with a bandaged hand walked up to the growing memorial Wednesday evening and lit a candle.

When asked about the deadly fight that erupted at school, Griffin said she’d once believed her grandson was safe at school but today her family is mourning and facing an unthinkable future without him.

Jayden, she said, wasn’t into sports but he was an avid gamer and not involved in negative groups like gangs.

Tears welled in her eyes and her childhood friend Cindy Covey put her arm around her shoulders, pulled her in close.

“We all went to high school here,” Covey said. “It’s just scary.”

Covey said Jayden was lucky to be part of a big extended family that camped together, shared meals together and seemed so close.

“He was a wonderful boy. Polite and a joy to be around,” she added.

Police asked anyone with information about the people involved or cell phone video of the incident to contact investigators at (707) 528-5222.

Chronicle Staff Writer Jordan Parker contributed to this report.

Reach Joel Umanzor: joel.umanzor@hearst.com and Julie Johnson at julie.johnson@sfchronicle.com