Fire Alarm At Beaumont High Fuels Fears After Shooting Threat

UPDATE 12:15 p.m.: A fire alarm at Beaumont High School on Wednesday prompted a brief scare on campus — the same day an online "threat" had already prompted extra security at the school.

Beaumont Police tell Patch the alarm went off around noon, and additional officers responded to the school. However, they soon learned the alarm was related to a mishap in a culinary class.

"Officers immediately conducted a search of the campus and determined that one of the classrooms that hosts cooking courses had burned food, which set off the smoke alarms," Beaumont police said on Facebook. "There is currently NO ACTIVE threat at the high school."

PREVIOUS STORY AS FOLLOWS:

BEAUMONT, CA — Beaumont and Banning police said students and parents should expect to see law enforcement prominently placed on the campuses of Beaumont High School and Banning High School on Wednesday after they learned of a possible threat that was made online. Police said they responded "out of an abundance of caution" to the social media shooting threat.

Beaumont police said they received a call about 8 p.m. Tuesday of suspicious circumstances in regards to a message received by a student over social media that warned of a planned shooting for "BHS," according to a statement from the Beaumont Police Department.

"We are aware of the threat and are investigating the source of the messages," police said. "Out of an abundance of caution, the Beaumont Police Department will have a visible presence on the Beaumont High School campus."

Beaumont Unified School District officials said they learned of the threatening message on Tuesday night and immediately contacted authorities.

"The District’s number one priority is the safety and well-being of our students and we take any kind of threat seriously," BUSD said in a statement.

As Banning High School is also "BHS," Banning police say they also increased police presence on campus related to the "threat," which they deemed not credible, officials told Patch.

"This is a reminder for all parents to monitor their children’s social media and have a conversation about the seriousness of posting any kind of reference to violence or threats to schools," the Beaumont Unified statement continued. "We encourage the entire school community to immediately report anything suspicious to law enforcement and not spread rumors via social media."

Anyone with information about his case was asked to call police at (951) 769-5800 or submit a tip anonymously at crimetips@beaumontpd.org.

— City News Service contributed to this report / Patch file photo by Renee Schiavone