Uptick in school threats reported in region after Saugus High shooting in Santa Clarita

With parents, students and school districts on edge after last week’s deadly shooting at a Santa Clarita high school, law enforcement agencies across the region have been fielding numerous reports of people who have threatened similar violence.

Possible threats against schools began rolling in within a day of the Thursday morning shooting at Saugus High School, where a 16-year-old student pulled out a .45 caliber handgun from a backpack, then fired at students waiting for class to start in the campus quad, before shooting himself.

Two of the victims died, as did the shooter, and several others were wounded.

On Sunday, the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff’s station said deputies were investigating “multiple false threats” against schools in the same school district as Saugus that were found on social media.

That included an investigation into a “vague post” referencing Nov. 18, the day when most schools in the district were scheduled to reopen after the shooting.

Several threats were made against other schools across Southern California over the weekend and on Monday.

Administrators at Wilson High School in Long Beach sent an alert to parents on Friday saying the campus received a threat over the phone at around 11 a.m., which led to students being held from attending lunch for about 25 minutes. On Monday, at Carson High School, a threat led administrators to lock down the school and call the sheriffs department.

Whittier Christian High School in La Habra canceled classes Monday after a shooting threat was found on social media, school officials said. La Habra police found the source of the threat — a teenage boy at his home — the same day.

By the afternoon, San Dimas High School was also placed on lockdown after a possible threat, leading sheriff’s deputies to sweep the school. Later, deputies arrested two 15-year-old boys on suspicion of reporting a false emergency, sheriff’s Sgt. Wilson Wong said. He said the teenagers are students at Canyon View School in San Dimas.

In Riverside, police arrested a 17-year-old for a threatening post directed at Ramona High School. He was booked in Riverside County juvenile hall on suspicion of making criminal threats and illegal possession of ammunition.

It’s a frequent and unwelcome cycle for police and parents weary from gun violence in places that are supposed to be safe — each time a school shooting captures the public’s attention, new reports of threats pour in, law enforcement officials said.

That could be because parents and students are watching for threats of violence more closely. Or it could be a teenager thinking it’s funny to say something shocking on social media. It could also be copycats wishing to sow chaos with vague threats, or plotting to eventually act out violently themselves.

For police, the fact that it’s hard to tell the real threats from the fake ones means they must respond to each one as a serious matter. Social media both amplifies the reach of threats and increases their volume.

“It is virtually impossible — actually, it is impossible — to try to filter or contain or at least be able to vet in any kind of way all of the information that is flooding the minds and emotions of our communities,” said Greg Murphy, the chief of police for the Cal State Northridge.

The CSUN campus was threatened twice in the last year. Over about a week in December 2018, a threatening, hand-written note was found, then a threatening message scrawled on a wall along with a swastika. In May, another message was found written on the wall of a bathroom.

Both times, the threats were circulated widely among students on social media. All were made around finals; none led to arrests. But Murphy said it’s critical for police agencies to find the person making the threat.

“You need to get in front of that person to see what’s motivating them,” he said.

“It could be somebody just scribbling really, without any level of thought. Or they could be 100 percent genuine. It could be an individual who has every intention of causing some damage.”

Complicating matters is the fact that threats can come from anywhere.

Lt. Doug Mohrhoff of the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff’s station said some of the threats against William S. Hart Union School District over the weekend came from outside of the station’s jurisdiction.

Previously, widespread threats have even come from outside the country. In April 2018, FBI officials investigated a series of emails sent to schools across the state containing threatening language; police determined they originated in Europe.

It wasn’t clear Monday if any of the threats made against Santa Clarita schools were international.

FBI officials in Los Angeles were not able to confirm whether their investigators were working on any cases in Santa Clarita. But officials said a task force in the L.A office typically receives several reports of threats against a variety of targets every day.

Most often, threats come from nearby. In three of the most recent incidents following the Saugus High School shooting, in Carson, La Habra and Riverside, appeared to be teenagers making vague threats on social media.

In Riverside, police apparently had enough evidence of a threat, including the fact that the teenager had access to ammunition, to make the arrest.

In San Dimas, like others, sheriffs deputies determine the threat was fake. They cautioned that falsely reporting an emergency is a crime.

“All clear at San Dimas High School after a prank call,” sheriffs officials said on Twitter. “It’s no joke kids!”