An 18-year-old man was arrested this week on suspicion of shooting another man in Santa Rosa at the beginning of this year was also involved in events that led to the fatal stabbing of a student in 2023 at Montgomery High School.

Police suspect Santa Rosa resident Juan Carlos Cruz of firing two shots at a driver Aug. 13 on Sunset Avenue, one block south of Sebastopol Road, Sgt. said Patricia Seffens. The driver was treated for life-threatening injuries at an area hospital and later released.

Officers arrested Cruz at his workplace in Windsor on Wednesday after a month-long investigation.

Police there said they found a loaded gun in his employee’s locker and later recovered ammunition at his Santa Rosa home.

They said they believe the August shooting was gang-related because the driver was wearing gang-related clothing and was in an area known for the presence of rival gangs.

Cruz was booked into the Sonoma County Jail on four felony charges: attempted murder, assault with a firearm, carrying a firearm with intent to commit a felony and carrying a concealed firearm.

He is being held without bail and is scheduled to appear in Sonoma County Superior Court on Friday.

Santa Rosa City Schools named Cruz and his mother, Maria Cervantes, as cross-accused in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed against the district by the family of Jayden Pienta, who died after being stabbed during a classroom fight on March 1, 2023.

The district alleges Pienta and Cruz, then 16, entered the classroom and confronted another student, Daniel Pulido, who is accused of stabbing Pienta in the chest and back.

Pienta died at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. Cruz also had injuries, but they were not considered serious.

In November 2023, Sonoma Juvenile Court Judge Ken Gnoss concluded that Pulido was is not responsible for Pienta’s death but found him responsible for bringing a gun onto campus.

Gnoss said Pienta was the “aggressor” in the fight and that he and Cruz planned to attack Pulido.

The case continues to move forward in court, with the next court date scheduled for January.

You can contact Staff Editor Madison Smalstig at [email protected]. On X (Twitter) @madi.smals.