Nearby Deaths Send Shudder Through Channel Islands High : Violence: Two former students have been slain in the past three weeks. But most at school say community problems haven’t spread to campus.

Rap music blared, couples danced and the smell of shish kebabs grilling wafted through the air at Channel Islands High School on Friday, as classes ended early for an annual festival.

But the festive atmosphere belies the brush with violence that has touched the south Oxnard school. In the past three weeks, two 16-year-old boys who once attended classes there have been killed in gang-related attacks.

Such violence, students say, does not reach the school’s campus.

“It’s a really friendly place on the campus,” said freshman Becky Green. “Nobody really bugs us.”

Other students agreed, saying the problems are on city streets, not the campus.

Freshman Ruben Baeza said he’s careful when he walks through an apartment complex on nearby Concord Court on his way home from school--a spot where gang members hang out. Still, Ruben said he hasn’t done anything differently since the shootings.

“As long as you don’t cause them trouble, they won’t say anything to you.”

Ruben and others say they haven’t heard much talk about the deaths of their former classmates. Some say students are in shock. Others say the deaths seem remote, because gang members don’t mix with other youths.

Still, the silence doesn’t mean some students aren’t worried.

“Everybody’s just sticking to themselves,” said Steve Ontiveros, a 15-year-old sophomore. “Everybody’s just saying, ‘Who’s going to be next?’ In Oxnard, things happen and nobody says anything about it.”

Adults may be exhibiting the most concern.

“I think I’m more tense than maybe the kids,” said Channel Islands Principal John Triolo. He wonders what will happen next. “It’s that unknown that makes you nervous, that makes you especially apprehensive.”

Junior Martin Banuelos died Sept. 29 outside a friend’s home on Kennedy Place, across Pacific Coast Highway from Channel Islands High.

A day later, a 24-year-old man was shot in the head in the La Colonia neighborhood. He died in a hospital five days later.

Thursday, a former Channel Islands student died when an unknown gunman pumped five bullets into him on Paul Street, about three blocks from the school. Pedro Madueno had transferred to Frontier High School, a continuation school for troubled students, Triolo said. Relatives say Pedro dropped out to escape gang problems.

Students say the two teen-agers had gang affiliations.

But gang problems at the 2,500-student Channel Islands High are no worse than those at the three other Oxnard-area schools, according to Assistant Police Chief Tom Cady.

The school has dress restrictions to eliminate fashions associated with gangs. Anti-gang awareness groups are a part of campus life. The school’s tough disciplinary measures include suspending students who are even preparing to fight, and serious incidents haven’t occurred in at least four years, Triolo said.

“We have on campus, not that they’re hard-core gang members, students who identify with every gang in the south Oxnard area,” he said. “[But] when a couple of kids have been killed, you wonder how effective the message is. Maybe if we hadn’t been doing what we’re doing, things would be worse.”

Triolo emphasized that all the incidents occurred off campus. Yet he wonders whether a Channel High student pulled the trigger in one of them--and acknowledges a feeling of helplessness.

“We spend a lot of time, a lot of energy on campus discipline,” he said. “We’ve maintained real good control. . . . The stuff going on in the community, I guess that’s out of our control.”