El Capitan High Student Threatened With a Knife While Walking to School

Parents of El Capitan High students were warned Wednesday about a long-haired man with a limp who followed a group of girls near a school bus stop, then pulled a knife on a boy who confronted him.

The girls said the stranger trailed them as they were walking near Los Coches Road and Highway 8 Business about 6 a.m. Tuesday, according to school officials.

Unnerved by the man's behavior and appearance, the group ran to a pool area at a nearby mobile-home park, then to a friend's house, El Capitan Principal Laura Whitaker wrote in a letter sent to parents of student who attend the Ashwood Street school.

"A male El Capitan student saw the man following the girls and approached him to ask why he was following them, and the man threatened the student with a knife," Whitaker stated. "The (boy) also ran to the mobile- home park. All (the) students were frightened but not injured."

Upon learning of the episode, school administrators called the sheriff's deputies, who opened an investigation.

The victims described the man as a dark-skinned and about 6 feet tall with "scraggly" hair, according to Whitaker. He was clad in baggy pants and a hooded sweat shirt.

"As a precautionary measure, please make sure your child does not travel to school alone," the principal wrote. "It's always best to walk with a buddy or group of friends."

-City News Service