Orange County stabbings frighten our community

On August 8, 2019, Zachary Castaneda, a 33-year old convict, went on a violent crime spree in Orange County which left four people dead and two injured. According to the NBC4 News, this rampage started in his apartment complex in Garden Grove off of Chapman and Harbor at around 4:10 p.m. The Garden Grove Police Department received a call of a suspected robbery at Castaneda’s apartment complex, and less than 20 minutes later, they received another call from M Bakery on Chapman and Haster, reporting a robbery that took place. An employee reported the suspect and their vehicle which matched Castaneda’s description. According to the NBC4 News, when Castaneda returned home at around 5:04 p.m. he stabbed two more people in his apartment complex because of a dispute between roommates living in a different apartment. 

His attacks continued at a financial institution, Cash N’ More, in Garden Grove on Chapman and Haster. At this location he only robbed and scared employees rather than physically harm them. Immediately after, Castaneda went to a Best One Insurance Company where he stabbed an employee and robbed the business (as caught on surveillance footage on NBC4 News). Castaneda’s last stop before he was caught by undercover cops was in Santa Ana on Harbor and First Street. At 6:09 p.m., Castaneda entered a Subway restaurant and killed a civilian. Not even five minutes later he crossed the street, entered a 7-11 convenience store, approached a security guard, and stabbed him. When Castaneda got out of the 7-11, undercover cops approached him and noticed that he had taken the security guard’s gun. They then asked him to drop his weapons, and Castaneda complied. In the end, the SAPD were able to apprehend him safely. 

Many students at MCHS don’t know the details about the events that took place regarding Castaneda’s violent rampage. When asked how they found out about it and what they felt, senior Reyna Ediss stated, “I found out at my house and my aunt and grandma happened to be there. So my grandma brought it up and she was just really shocked of like what the killer did to all those people. It made me feel… scared cause I live in Garden Grove so it hit me and it made me realize if that were to happen in my neighborhood, I could’ve been one of those victims.”

Violent crimes of this nature, such as, mass shootings, stabbings, and other acts of terrorism have been on the rise this year and a few of them have taken place in different parts of Orange County. Santa Ana has now been added to the list. 

Senior Arianna Montesinos said, “I found out about it on the news. It’s scary because I feel like it’s so close to me. It can just happen on a daily basis; like, I could’ve been at that 7-11. I never understand why people do that, what comes to their head.” Over the years knife crimes have increased and many are being affected by these events. Montesinos added, “It’s crazy to think that things like this still happen.”