South Bay Student Posts Rifle, Ammo Photo, Threatens To Shoot Up School: Police

GILROY, CA – Police arrested a juvenile after he allegedly posted a suspicious message on social media over the weekend, appearing to threaten to shoot his high school, police said Tuesday.

On Saturday, the boy allegedly posted a photo of a rifle and ammunition to his Snapchat profile with the text, "No one show up to school on Monday," according to Gilroy police.

After learning of the posting, officer identified the boy as a Gilroy High School student.

Officers were able to located the rifle and ammunition seen in the posting and determined they were only "realistic" replicas.

Although the boy apologized and claimed the message was a joke, officers arrested him on suspicion of making criminal threats and booked him into juvenile hall.

"The Gilroy Police Department partners with the Gilroy Unified School District to make school safety a priority. Threats over social media are taken very seriously, especially when they involved our schools," police said in a statement. "Unfortunately for those who decide to commit these crimes, they leave an obvious digital trail for investigators to follow."

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--Bay City News contributed to this report/Image via Renee Schiavone, Patch