Three Shootings in Three Years: Fairfield High School's Broken Promise to Its Students

When Amanda Prieto heard rapid gunfire erupt during a graduation ceremony at Fairfield High School on the evening of June 3, her first instinct was denial. Surely it was part of the celebration—fireworks, maybe. Then she looked over her fence and saw the screaming crowds, the chaos, the running. Reality crashed in: another shooting had just unfolded steps away from her home.

The shooting at Fairfield High School’s parking lot, where San Benito Continuation High School held its graduation ceremony, left one person dead and three others injured. Fairfield Police Department officers responded around 7:15 p.m., deploying multiple patrol units, a drone, and K-9 units to search for a suspect who remained unidentified. But what makes this incident particularly haunting isn’t just the violence itself—it’s what it represents for the community living in its shadow. Amanda Prieto had witnessed shootings at this school twice before in three years. Their 17-year-old son, a student at Fairfield High, was present during another shooting earlier in the school year as classes were letting out. The question Amanda and her husband Luis asked themselves—do we pull him out of this school?—shouldn’t have to be asked by any parent about their child’s education.

The couple, who live directly adjacent to the campus, found themselves on the front lines of a crisis. Luis described a rapid law enforcement response with patrol vehicles, multiple agencies including Solano County Sheriff’s Office, fire trucks, and a drone deployed within minutes. They counted at least three ambulances. The scene was one of controlled chaos—people evacuating on foot only, questioned as witnesses, trapped in the heat while Luis and Amanda passed water over the fence to those waiting for clearance to leave. It was a small act of kindness in an unconscionable situation.

What’s equally striking is the exhaustion evident in the voices of those affected. When KCRA 3 spoke with a young woman named Alyssa, a former Fairfield student, her frustration was palpable:“People keep getting shot at this school and it’s not getting fixed, nothing happening. It’s sad. It’s really sad.”Three shootings in three years. That’s not a series of isolated incidents—that’s a pattern. That’s a problem that demands real solutions, not just rapid police responses and vigils.

The Prietos love their home, but they’re trapped by economics and fear. Housing costs make relocation impossible, yet every day their children spend outside feels like a gamble. Amanda Prieto’s words cut to the core:“It only takes one stray bullet.”For a community watching graduation ceremonies become crime scenes and seeing their teenagers grow up under the shadow of repeated violence, one stray bullet is one too many. The real question isn’t whether parents should consider pulling their kids out of Fairfield High. It’s why a school that’s experienced multiple shootings hasn’t already forced a comprehensive reckoning—from the district, the city, and every stakeholder with the power to actually change things.