Update: Victim in stable condition, suspect faces charges in Turlock High stabbing
A Turlock High School student suffered life-threatening injuries after being stabbed multiple times by another student on campus Friday morning, police said.
Turlock Police Lt. Neil Cervenka said a male student stabbed another male student just before 9 a.m. in a sports field at the campus on Canal Drive. He said the School Resource Officer was on scene within a minute and detained the suspect.
A helicopter ambulance landed on the school’s practice field to transport the victim to a Modesto hospital. He was stabbed multiple times in the chest and his injuries are life-threatening.
Early Friday afternoon Turlock Police reported the victim is in stable condition and the suspect was booked into juvenile hall on suspicion of attempted murder. Authorities did not release the names or ages of the students, who are both juveniles. Students told The Bee they are both seniors.
Photos and video of the incident were posted on SnapChat Friday morning.
A 35-second video shows the suspect advancing on and repeatedly making slashing gestures toward the victim, who is already bloodied and throwing punches to try to fend off the suspect as he stumbled backward.
Other students are gathered around watching and yelling.
One student can be heard saying, “He has a knife; he’s stabbing him. Look at his arms; they’re sliced open.”
At the end of the video the victim turns and runs while a teacher gets to the scene and stops the suspect.
The victim retreated to the nurse’s office, his face and torso covered in blood.
Office staff called the school’s resource officer and “she sprinted across campus to that location,” Cervenka said.
The suspect was taken into custody without further incident. He was also treated for a minor injury to his hand.
Turlock Police Sgt. Mike Parmley said the attack was believed to have occurred during a passing period. He said it is unknown what precipitated it.
The school was put on lockdown for about 90 minutes while officers and detectives processed the scene, collected evidence and identified witnesses. Some parents went to the school to pick up their children after being notified of the incident.
A sophomore, who declined to give his name for privacy reasons, said he thought the suspect and victim were fist-fighting at first. Then the suspect pulled out a knife, he said, and continued stabbing the victim as he tried to run away. The sophomore said he was about an arm’s length away when it happened because he was walking to class.
The sophomore’s sister said the victim goes to her boxing gym and is one of her teammates. Her mother declined to give the name of the gym.
“He’s a little bit known for the drama,” the sister said. “He’s out there.”
Oscar Rodriguez, a junior, was on the other side of campus when the lockdown began. A teacher told him about the stabbing, he said, and his heart dropped.
“I thought we were safe,” Rodriguez said.”But I guess stuff like that...it’s rare for it to happen in Turlock.”
Adrianna Padilla hadn’t spoken to her daughter yet when she came to pick her up, feeling scared and sad.
“Turlock is such a small community and it’s been very peaceful,” Padilla said. “I’ve been living here for more than 13 years and I’ve never heard of something like this.”
Senior Karen Gutierrez said she has only known the suspect this school year, but said he is her partner in third period English class.
“He was just a very quiet kid,” Gutierrez said. “I knew that he didn’t really have friends because during lunch he would just walk around.”
As Daniel Meneses walked to campus, he said his son sent his wife a graphic picture of the incident that was circulating on SnapChat and by text.
“I want to have peace of mind that they’re safe at home,” Meneses said. “Even though the person is already captured you just never know what other kids might be connected or kind of come out of the woodwork.”
Turlock Unified spokesperson Marie Russell said in a statement, “We were shaken by the alarming news of the assault at Turlock High School today. We are very thankful for the swift action by a THS staff member who intervened on behalf of the victim to prevent further injury.”
School counselors and clinicians are available to students who may be struggling, according to the statement.
“Our immediate focus is on the social-emotional well-being of our THS and school communities as well as maintaining safe environments for students and staff,” the statement said.
Anyone with information relevant to the investigation is asked to contact Detective Kevin Blanc at Turlock Police Department at (209) 668-6540.
This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 9:44 AM.
