Vallejo parents, students concerned about safety after deadly shooting of student near campus

VALLEJO, Calif. (KTVU) - It's been one week since high school student Max Rusk was gunned down just off campus in Vallejo.

Police have made two arrests in the case, but there are still unanswered questions.

In the meantime, some students and parents at the boy's school are concerned about safety on campus, and the person leading the fight for a safer school is 15-year-old 10th grader, Kaitlyn Dart. "We need safer schools and we want to be heard," she said.

Dart is a sophomore at Jesse Bethel High School, where she and her friends don't feel safe.

They say there are weapons on campus and that there was at least one riot earlier this year. "That was before Max's death. There was a lot of riots. I just went straight to class. I didn't want to do nothing to be a part of that," said Rusk's friend, Matthew Giesler.

Vallejo Police say Jesse Bethel High School is safe, although they were unaware of the alleged riot this year. "That's correct, I guess we'd have to define riot," said Lt. Kenny Park.

This week, Dart and her friends picketed outside the school to call attention to their safety concerns. On Wednesday night, Dart spoke to the school board, forcefully addressing the superintendent.

"I said you can't keep us safe, that's pretty clear, you aren't being responsible for the fact that you're not keeping us safe, and you're not being respectful enough to tell our parents the truth," she said.

This all comes a week after 17-year old Max Rusk was killed. "I always called him My King, Mi Rey, and he always called me Mi Reyna. And Mi Reyna means My Queen in Spanish," said Rusk's girlfriend, Naomi Zermeno.

Rusk was shot to death on a secluded trial just below campus. "I'm grateful that he had all the friends that he had, cause it shows that he was really loved," Zermeno added.

There's been a candlelight vigil at the memorial every night since the killing happened. And in fact, some of the people who organized the memorial have even slept there overnight to protect it.

One of Dart's friends said that he was robbed at gunpoint by Rusk's accused killer, 19-year old Zachary Kroll. "He's since been charged with another count of armed robbery. And apparently this robbery occurred the day before," said Lt. Park.

KTVU tried to talk with school officials, who directed us to the district. Repeated calls to district officials were not returned.