The City of Stockton is still reeling from the murder of a 15-year-old student who was stabbed on the grounds of Amos Alonzo Stagg High School on Monday. Police have determined that it was a random attack carried out by a 52-year-old man who entered the campus without authorization.
Police say the suspect, Anthony Gray, parked his vehicle in the school parking lot at around 11 a.m. and then entered the campus through a parking lot gate. He attempted to grab two female students. He then stabbed one of them, Alycia Reynaga, multiple times. She died from her wounds at a nearby hospital.
There has been an increase in violent crime around the city. Campus Safety Magazine reports that “the city had increased patrols at schools where school resource officers and Stockton Police are contracted” even before the stabbing.
Parents and students are asking questions about what kind of security was in place at the school when Reynaga was stabbed. A campus police officer helped apprehend the suspect, but it’s not clear if there was anyone guarding entrances to the school that day.
"My heart is shattered by the violence that ended the life of a young student today," Mayor Kevin Lincoln wrote in a statement. "No child should ever have to experience or witness such senseless acts of violence."
Lincoln said he is working closely with the Stockton Unified School District to develop additional safety measures to protect students and residents.