Eighteen-year-old assault could be related to an earlier
conflict
Morgan Hill – An 18-year-old Live Oak High student was assaulted Monday night in what police believe was a gang retaliation attack.
Morgan Hill police Sgt. David Swing said the department received a call at 12:15am Tuesday from Saint Louise Regional Hospital informing officers that Johnny Gonzales of Morgan Hill was being treated for head injuries received during a possible assault.
Because the investigation is ongoing, details of the assault are still unclear, Swing said. From what Gonzales told police, he was jumped by someone, possibly more than one suspect, while in the area of Monterey Road and East Edmundson Avenue in Morgan Hill between 10:30pm and 11pm. He was hit in the head at least three times, apparently with brass knuckles, Swing said.
After the attack, Gonzales walked to a home on nearby Keith Way and was driven to Saint Louise.
Monday’s attack may have been provoked by an incident several weeks earlier at Live Oak High, Swing said. Gonzales and a 15-year-old male Live Oak student were allegedly fighting on school grounds. The 15-year-old is believed to be a Sureño gang member, while police allege Gonzales is a Norteño.
While breaking up the fight on campus, a student supervisor was punched in the face, but her injuries were not serious, Swing said. Both students were cited and released to their parents charged with alleged battery on a school employee.
The 15-year-old teen was also charged with possession of a knife on school grounds, and likely faces expulsion.
Gonzales reported someone, possibly the other student, left voice messages on his answering machine after the fight saying that he would be killed or shot with 13 bullets, Swing said.
Police declined to comment on whether the 15-year-old is a suspect in the assault.
