Boy Suspected of Making Gun Threats at Hemet School

News Staff

Hemet, CA

A student at West Valley High School in Hemet was arrested for allegedly writing threatening messages on a bathroom wall, authorities said Tuesday.

According to Hemet police Lt. Eddie Pust, the boy, whose identity was not disclosed, was arrested Monday on suspicion of making criminal threats and taken to Riverside Juvenile Hall. Pust alleged that the youth scrawled a message on a lavatory wall last week threatening to bring “weapons to school to harm others.”

Story: Police Find No Credible Threat at Rancho Mirage High School

According to Pust, a police officer working as a campus resource specialist initiated an investigation into the threatening messages, which were circulated on social media via pictures snapped by other students who visited the same bathroom.

Pust said detectives got involved, and the teen was soon identified and interviewed.

“Through further investigation regarding the message, detectives concluded that, while the threat was unlawful, it was not found to be credible,” the lieutenant said.

Story: Student Arrested After Security Guard Overhears School Shooting Threat

Hemet police have made several similar arrests over the last three weeks, along with other law enforcement agencies in the Inland Empire, as alarmist sentiments run high following the Feb. 14 shooting rampage in Parkland, Florida.

“While threats of this nature are occurring all across our nation’s schools, both the Hemet Police Department and Hemet Unified School District take all these threats seriously, and we are committed to the safety and welfare of our children attending schools and the staff,” said HUSD Superintendent Christi Barrett.

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