Davis community gripped in fear following deadly stabbings
DAVIS — After three stabbings in five days, a sense of safety feels broken in Davis.
"This school is incentivized based on how safe the city of Davis is. And if we don't have that, then what do we have here?" said Kara Taylor, a UC-Davis senior.
Taylor came to the Rec Center with her housemate, Dominique Pajaro, who is similarly concerned about their safety. The pair live off campus and have plans with their housemates to travel in groups and not after dark.
"Both of our dads ordered tasers for us today," Pajaro said Tuesday.
On Tuesday morning, students were increasingly frustrated with the lack of campus guidance. The UC Davis administration had sent out an email to the student body with safety tips but many felt that there needed to be action when it came to in-person classes held late in the evening. Taylor and Pajaro told CBS13 about a friend who had been scheduled for a lab session that ran from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. Other students, like senior April Maravilia, explained that what they saw was a good first step but that they wanted more.
"I do appreciate the police presence in trying to get this handled," Maravilia explained. "But I think the campus guidance needs to be improved."
Later that afternoon, UC Davis announced that they would be making all classes that ended after 6:00 p.m. remote but did not give any update or guidance on how the investigation and crime spree would affect midterms which begin this week. Chancellor Gary May told gathered press that the Academic Senate would have the final say in that decision.
Elsewhere in Davis, high school students were getting their first experience of crime in a town that hasn't seen a murder in nearly three years.
"We had a five-minute presentation about safety going over shelter in place and lockdown," Davis High senior Kaycee Cordordor mentioned.
Parents went to pick kids up from school during the lunch hour, some deciding it was best to do it in light of the recent news. Donna Weaver's son was out near Central Park where the first stabbing occurred last Thursday. She then was at Toad Park, near the location of the third stabbing Monday, just hours prior and said she returned home with an uneasy feeling.
"I think people—you don't want to live in fear, but you want to be smart," Weaver said.
Among the continuing concerns from the student populace: how to protect the houseless population of Davis, two of whom have been targeted in these attacks.
"Davis has the money to put homeless people in shelter right now," UC Davis Quinn Gonzalez explained. "The people that are getting attacked are the people that don't have homes and don't have the comfort of that security. And we need to do that."
But a notable concern that stretched across the town was the light ordinance in Davis and how some felt it made roads and streets more dangerous at night, especially now.
"These streets in Davis are not well lit at all," Taylor, who lives off-campus at UC Davis, said.
"You drive the residential streets and they're pitch black," said Weaver, parked outside Davis High. "They're kind of scary."
As the community continues to rally around each other and hope for some light on the situation sooner rather than later.
"We've had friends reach out to us and we reach out to them like make sure you lock your doors," Pajaro said. "Make sure you don't go out past this time."
