Nearly one-third of the student body at Vallejo High School didn't show up to school on Wednesday, one day after someone opened fire in front of the school, striking a staff member who was trying to break up a fight.
"I mean, this is not normal for a third of our students to be out," said Celina Baguiao, communications director for the Vallejo City Unified School District.
The staff member who was shot, identified by friends as a beloved football coach, was trying to break up a fight between students and what Vallejo police described as an unknown group of men. The staff member is expected to survive.
"As a district, one of our own was hurt yesterday," Baguiao said. "We are upset and angry and hurt. We have the same emotions as the parents do."
On Wednesday, the district began adding more security at the school, requesting more patrols by Vallejo police and providing any counseling to students.
But the shooting, and the fact that the shooter remains at large, has shaken students and parents.
"I was basically just telling my daughter, 'Go from point A to point B. Call me on your way out so that way I know what route you're taking, how long it’s going to take,'" parent Courtney Medford said.
William Perez, a freshman, admitted he had second thoughts about going to school on Wednesday. He said it's still hard to process exactly what took place. He just hopes it doesn't happen again.
"I feel surprised, like, 'Oh my God, that really happened at my school in Vallejo'," he said. "That's something that I wasn’t really expecting my freshman year."
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