School violence threat targets a Stanislaus high school. Teen detained is 8th this month
A Waterford High School student was detained Monday morning on suspicion of making threats of violence against his school, according to the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office.
The student, a 15-year-old boy, allegedly posted a warning on the social media platform Snapchat that told other students not to come to school Monday. If they did, the post read, they’d need to “hide during third period,” said Detective Alexander Ruezga with the Sheriff’s Office.
Other students reported the post to school officials. The boy was identified quickly because his name was included on his profile page. He was detained at Waterford High.
“We take every threat of violence, especially towards our youth in schools, with a no-tolerance stance,” said Lt. Dave Mullins.
The Waterford High student is the eighth juvenile to be detained this month on charges related to threats of school violence. Seven other students were detained in a spate of local and nationwide threats made in the wake of a school shooting in Georgia on Sept. 4.
“There is no such thing as anonymity online. Everything you do online leaves a digital fingerprint. ... It is not a coincidence that almost every one of the school threats made during the recent spike led to an arrest of a suspect,” wrote Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Wendell Emerson in a statement.
School district response
The Waterford Unified School District released a statement in response to the teen’s detainment, in which a slight irony was expressed because a PSA video released at the beginning of the year was made explaining the danger of this very act.
Students from fourth through 12th grades all were shown the video, made with the Sheriff’s Office, which presented a fictional account of a student making a bomb threat to get out of a math test. The video was made to show that students will be caught and how it could affect the mental health and well-being of their classmates.
The video also stressed the importance of “see something, say something,” which Amanda Wilson, spokesperson for WUSD, said was exactly what happened in this incident.
“We are exceptionally thankful for our strong partnership with the Sheriff’s Office and their dedication to working with us on important prevention initiatives like the cyber safety assemblies,” Wilson wrote in a statement. “We are very proud of how swiftly students reported their concerns, putting the ‘See Something, Say Something’ principle into action and helping to maintain the safety of our schools and community.”
Wilson also encouraged parents to take this as a reason to talk with their children about the consequences of making these threats. Besides being placed in handcuffs and prosecuted, students also face expulsion.
“Like the Sheriff’s Department, Waterford USD has zero tolerance for behavior that threatens school safety and will take appropriate disciplinary actions against any violations,” Wilson wrote.
This story was originally published September 30, 2024 at 12:54 PM.
