Authorities say a 15-year-old girl was stabbed to death on a high school campus on Monday in an apparently random attack.
Police and school district officials say Alicia Reynaga was stabbed several times at about 11:00 a.m. at Stagg High School in Stockton, California.
She died at a hospital.
Authorities say 52-year-old Antony Gray drove up to the school, entered through a gate, and attacked before security and staff members could stop him.
Gray was immediately arrested but a motive for the attack remains under investigation.
In a news release, the Stockton Police Department said the suspect drove to the school’s front parking lot, parked, walked over to the student and stabbed her. The suspect, only described as a man, was quickly detained by a school district police officer.
“The fact that the individual was detained so quickly just pays credence to the fact that there were adults there and they were immediately accessible,” Ramirez said.
A statement from Stockton Mayor Kevin Lincoln said SUSD and the city of Stockton will be working together to “identify additional measures and resources” to ensure the safety of their students.
“My heart is shattered by the violence that ended the life of a young student today,” Lincoln wrote in a statement. “No child should ever have to experience or witness such senseless acts of violence.”
The Stockton Police Department will have additional officers at the high school and will be working closely with the school district, Deputy Chief Eric Kane said at a Monday news conference.
Gray was booked into the San Joaquin County Jail, where he was being held without bail, online court records show. Gray was due in court on Wednesday afternoon.
Anyone with information on the incident can call police at (209) 937-8377 or the Investigations Division at (209) 937-8323.
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