Knife Attack on Student Shocks School : Violence: A 17-year-old junior at Edison High in Huntington Beach is stabbed repeatedly in the school parking lot as classes let out. Four suspects are arrested.

A 17-year-old student was stabbed repeatedly at Edison High School Wednesday by three young men and a youth just as classes were letting out and the school’s 2,000 students were leaving campus, police said.

Student Dean Navarro was stabbed twice in the abdomen and once in the arm during the attack at 2:35 p.m. in the school parking lot. He was rushed to UCI Medical Center in Orange where he remained in serious condition late Wednesday night following surgery, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The suspects in the stabbing, three adults and a 15-year-old, were arrested a short time later a few miles from the high school, situated at 21400 Magnolia St.

“It’s shocking,” Principal Brian Garland said. “It kind of takes your breath away.”

Garland said none of the students who witnessed the stabbing recognized any of the attackers.

“To our knowledge, we don’t think it stems from anything that happened at the school,” he said. “It appears to be an off-campus situation. But whatever caused it to happen, they knew his schedule and when he would be getting out of school.”

Police said the suspects were seen driving around the school’s parking lot before they confronted Navarro, a junior who has attended Edison High since January, school officials said.

“They confronted the victim for an unknown reason, it led to a fight and he was stabbed,” Police Sgt. Janet Perez said.

A police officer spotted the four suspects driving from the school and stopped them on Adams Avenue west of Brookhurst Street in Huntington Beach.

Arrested were Minh Van Nguyen, 19, of Westminster; Khai Quang Do, 20, of Westminster; Antoini Quan Nguyen, 22, of Anaheim and a 15-year-old male from Garden Grove.

The three adults are being held at Huntington Beach City Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, and the minor was taken to Juvenile Hall in Orange, Perez said.

Garland said that there would be additional security at the school today and that school psychologists would be available for any students traumatized by the incident.

Benjamer Romero, an 18-year-old senior from Huntington Beach, described Navarro as a loyal friend and good person.

“He’s a good guy. He’s friendly,” Romero said. “His family is very nice.”

Navarro also is athletic; he works out, lifts weights and “is muscular,” Romero said.

Romero and two friends went to the parking lot Wednesday night where the attack occurred to check on Navarro’s car, which was still there.

Other students said this was the first incidence of violence on their campus.

“We were all pretty surprised,” said Jacci Gifford, 16. “It was frightening. I’m a senior and I’m glad I’m getting out of here.”

Another student, 15-year-old Dave Skilling, said: “I’m sorry it happened because now I’m frightened. We don’t hear a lot about gangs here in Huntington Beach.”

Garland also said such violence is virtually unprecedented at the school where he has been a teacher and administrator since 1970.

“It’s not just what happened that concerns me,” he said. “It’s what’s happening throughout the schools in our area and in Los Angeles. We’ve always wanted out schools to be safety zones for students. That’s becoming more and more difficult to guarantee because of incidents like this.”

Last week, 22 Fountain Valley High School students were suspended after a 17-year-old student was stabbed in the head and ear during a campus melee prompted by escalating racial tensions between white and Asian-American students.

Police said they did not know if Wednesday’s stabbing was racially motivated.

In addition to those incidents, violence has erupted at or near schools in Anaheim, Fountain Valley, Lake Forest, Irvine and Santa Ana since the academic year began in September.

Eight of the incidents have been shootings, the most recent on Feb. 26 when a 17-year-old soccer star was shot to death while on his way to Century High School in Santa Ana.

Times staff writer Shelby Grad and Stacy Wong contributed to this story.