Police Honor Student for Stopping Attack

A spontaneous act of bravery resulted in a Channel Islands High School senior being honored Wednesday by an Oxnard police detective.

Gabriela Tlaxcuapan and a 17-year-old male friend were walking home from school last month in an alley in the 900 block of East Channel Islands Boulevard when they were confronted by a teenage boy who began yelling obscenities at her friend.

The pair ignored the outburst, but then something shiny caught Gabriela’s eye. With the knife blade hidden in his hand, the teenager attacked Gabriela’s friend.

Gabriela, who describes herself as shy, said she got between the two boys and squared off with the attacker without even thinking.

“I told him it would be a clean fight or no fight at all,” she said. “I was mad because he wouldn’t fight fair. I reacted out of anger. I couldn’t believe I did that.”

“Gabriela went above and beyond the call of duty,” Oxnard Det. Karl Dyer said of the Dec. 14 incident. “I don’t recommend it, but now that it’s done, it’s great.”

Dyer, who would not release the names of the boys, said that the attacker is a student at Channel Islands High and that the fight was not gang-related.

The victim suffered a 2-inch-long cut to his hip and was treated at home. Dyer said the attacker has not been arrested. He is wanted on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.