15-year-old Monache High School student randomly stabbed by 19-year-old man, police say

PORTERVILLE, Calif. (KFSN) -- Just days before the end of the school year, Monache High students were put on lockdown, left confused and scared.

"We were just planning on putting our posters in the cafeteria. All of a sudden, you just hear an alarm. We close the curtains and we just hid," senior Yamilet Hernandez said.

"We didn't know what to do because we were in the cafeteria and no one else was in there," senior Jasmin Magana said.

Magana called her parents, hoping they could come pick her up, but no one would be going in or out of the building for several hours.

"When I got her phone call, that's when it hits you more than anything, you know," Jasmin's father, Leonardo Magana, said. "I would rush in and get her myself wherever she's at, but we've got to go by the rules too."

As students were starting the day, a staff member called Porterville Police to campus after they said a 15-year-old girl was stabbed inside a classroom.

Police rushed to the high school and the campus was placed on lockdown. Families were alerted through an email from the district.

Anyone who was on campus wouldn't be leaving, and anyone who hadn't come yet was told to stay home.

"It's scary, it really is. When I drove by, every opening was blocked off. You couldn't get in," Monache High grandmother Janey Ice said.

The Porterville Unified School District says the suspect, identified as 19-year-old Noah Seratte, was able to enter the school alongside other students around 7:15 a.m. Monday.

In a statement, the superintendent said Serrate was a former student who was expelled last year and never returned, and was previously arrested for making threats against students and staff.

Serrate was arrested shortly after the attack near Prospect and Henderson Avenue, not far from campus.

Investigators confirmed late Monday evening that there is no relationship or correlation between the victim and Serrate.

The girl was taken to the hospital for her injuries and is expected to be okay.

"I did have the opportunity to stop by to speak with her and check on her, as did the police chief. For this being a very tragic incident, she was in okay spirits, but again, very, very tragic," Porterville Police Captain Josh Maniss said.

Parents are now concerned about school safety after a man was able to get on campus undetected.

"This is actually a big one, someone getting stabbed inside the school. It's concerning," Leonardo said.

Seratte was booked into the Tulare County Jail on charges of attempted homicide and assault with a deadly weapon.

Porterville Unified's full statement on Monday's attack can be viewed in the Facebook post below:

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