Two Modesto middle-schoolers arrested after threatening school shootings, police say

Two 14-year-old girls, both students at Evelyn Hanshaw Middle School on Las Vegas Street in south Modesto, were arrested Friday morning on suspicion of making campus shooting threats.

A call threatening a shooting at Hanshaw was made from a cell phone during school hours Friday, said Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Heather Graves. The school was put on lockdown.

A police investigation began immediately, and identified the girls as suspects. Evidence linked them to the call Friday and to a similar one made last week to Mark Twain Junior High on Emerald Avenue in west Modesto.

Investigators found no evidence that the girls had access to weapons and would have been able to carry through on the threats, Graves said.

Both were booked into juvenile hall and face felony charges of making terrorist threats and conspiracy. Because they are minors, their names were withheld.

Graves said the department takes these threats very seriously, and thorough investigations will be conducted and arrests will be made.

This story was originally published March 16, 2018 at 4:28 PM with the headline "Two Modesto middle-schoolers arrested after threatening school shootings, police say."