9-Year-Old Killed By Intruder, Calaveras Schools Statement Issued

Leila Fowler, the 9-year-old killed by an intruder in her California home, was a student at Jenny Lind Elementary before she was brutally slain by an unknown assailant in her house this weekend.

Now, as the community copes with Fowler’s senseless death, schools in the Calaveras Unified School District will open today as is standard — but grief counseling is one of the steps offered by the district for classmates coping as children learn their 9-year-old classmate was killed by an intruder.

Sunday morning, news broke that Fowler had been stabbed to death in her home in Valley Springs, sparking a large manhunt for the man responsible for the unconscionable act.

Yesterday, a spokesperson for the local sheriff’s office confirmed that the intruder who killed Fowler was being sought with all available means, but acknowledged challenges in the search area:

“We’re doing a house to house search and in some cases we’re searching extensively into attics and storage sheds. It’s a difficult area to search. It’s rural, it’s remote.”

A Sunday statement issued by the Calaveras Unified School District addressed the death of the 9-year-old at the hands of an intruder and its traumatic effects on fellow classmates.

Mark Campbell, Calaveras Unified School District’s superintendent, said in the statement:

“As we all grapple with the tragic and senseless loss of one of our own, we do so knowing that we will be ready to do what is necessary to provide a safe environment for students and for staff, and to stand unified and strong as we provide whatever level of support and assistance that is necessary to help the family, our students, our parents and our staff process the unthinkable.”

After the 9-year-old was killed by an intruder, the district placed counselors at Jenny Lind Elementary, Toyon Middle School and Calaveras High School along with a stepped up police presence in the wake of the violent crime.