The latest in a series of threats of violence, at least one of which resulted in nearly half of the student body at a regional high school failing to show up for classes last Friday, was determined to be a practical joke.
On Wednesday, November 18 social media posts threatened mayhem at the high school campus. By that evening, sheriff’s deputies, who traced the origin of the Twitter tweets to a 15-year-old student, determined the threats were not credible nor legitimate.
Things may not go well for the student, a 15-year-old male said to have been engaging in a “prank.” According to the Twitter post, someone was set on undertaking to “shoot up YHS” yesterday, Thursday November 19.
The fictitious threat followed two earlier ones in the expanded geographical area south of Yucaipa, in the Riverside County communities of Temecula/Rancho California and Beaumont. Yucaipa lies at the extreme south end of San Bernardino County, abutting Calimesa in Riverside County. On November 12, in Temecula Valley High, a written threat was found on the campus. On November 13, roughly half of Temecual Valley High’s students did not attend class. Another threat was made at Beaumont High earlier this week.
There is some speculation that the cooked-up threats are ruses by which some students are trying to avoid having to go to school. Officials, however, cannot be cavalier about the threats and must, at least initially, assume they are serious.
In Yucaipa, according to deputy Eric Lugo of the Yucaipa Station, “On November 18, 2015, the Yucaipa Police Department was notified of a post on social media that threatened violence on the Yucaipa High School campus. Investigators, working in conjunction with personnel from the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District, worked through the night and were able to identify the person who posted the original threat. The suspect has been identified as a 15-year old Yucaipa High School student. Investigators believe the student was acting out a prank and at this point, the immediate threat has been unfounded.”
Lugo said, “The completed investigation will be forwarded to the district attorney for review.”
Whether or not the student, who has not been identified publicly, will face criminal charges, he will face an inquisition by district and high school officials who are displeased with the interruption of the school day at Yucaipa High School on Thursday morning. Deputies were visibly present on the campus and a half dozen or more students were kept out of school by their parents.
The district administration will conduct a hearing for the youth, who is likely to be suspended. If officials determine that his action was egregious or that he continues to represent a problem, he may be expelled.
Investigators determined that the “target” of the false threat actually did not attend Yucaipa High School. A number of students at the high school, however, retweeted the message.