photo: A National Holiday/ BY-NC-SA

Lt. Mark Gagan, spokesperson for Richmond police, says they have arrested five people—two adults and three minors, in the attack of a 15-year-old Richmond High student. Four of those arrested will be charged as adults. The girl was gang raped and beaten for almost two-and-a-half hours. She was left unconscious under a bench a little before midnight. Lt. Gagan also added that as many as ten people were involved in the assault while another ten people watched without calling police. The victim was released from the hospital on Wednesday.

Marin Trujillo, district community engagement and media spokesperson, says Richmond High is working closely with Richmond police to ensure their students are safe. Trujillo says Richmond High will continue to go through with its plans to hold a dance this weekend. To ensure their students' safety, faculty members, local police officers, and volunteers are planning to cover more areas surrounding the campus. Trujillo says, “There will be a drop off and pick up zone to ensure kids are being picked up.” Trujillo also mentioned they will be covering more ground and faculty members and police officers won’t leave campus until the campus is clear.

According to Trujillo, Richmond High has never had any problems like this occur before. “The place where this horrible incident took place was in a dark area, not accessible by students,” Trujillo says, emphasizing that students needed to work hard to get to that location. By the summer Richmond High will have a fence around the school making it a closed campus. The school is also looking into installing 125 digital cameras that faculty members and police officers have access to.

When students arrived at school on Monday, counselors were available to them. Trujillo says students are being proactive and were the ones to request Wednesday’s press conference. Trujillo says, “Students are tired of how the media had been portraying them and their school.” He says students emphasized that this is not a local issue, but a national issue. Parents and community members will meet this Saturday at Richmond High to discuss the steps the school needs to take and also address some of the concerns they may have.

Get well cards or financial help for the victim's family can be sent to the school located at 1250 23rd St. Richmond, CA 94804. For monetary support, make the check out to Richmond’s Student Fund. To ensure the money goes to the family, write at the bottom of the check: “sexual assault victim.”