'We Will Shoot The Kids:' Man Accused Of Threatening Hollywood Schools

HOLLYWOOD, CA — Federal authorities Wednesday arrested a 44-year-old man suspected of threatening several Hollywood school shootings and bombings.

Marcus James Buchanan, of Blackwell, Oklahoma, is to appear in U.S. District Court in Wichita, Kansas Wednesday. He is charged with one count of making a telephonic threat to damage or destroy buildings by fire or explosives, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

According to Department of Justice prosecutors, Buchanan, who grew up in Los Angeles, called in menacing threats to four elementary and middle schools from Hollywood to Cheviot Hills and one high school in Fairfax from February to April. The threats prompted repeated lockdowns and police sweeps of Los Angeles campuses, according to federal investigators.

"There is a bomb at your school and we will shoot the kids when they get out of the school. That is what you get for not accepting me in '86," he allegedly told an elementary school staffer in one menacing call, according to an affidavit.

The man's girlfriend later told federal authorities he held a longstanding grudge against Los Angeles area schools that he felt rejected him, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The schools targeted included Vine Street Elementary, Bancroft Middle School, and Le Conte Middle School in the Hollywood area, Overland Elementary in Cheviot Hills and Fairfax High School.

During a period of less than two hours on the morning of Feb. 28, Buchanan allegedly called in bomb threats to two elementary schools, two middle schools and a high school in Los Angeles, federal prosecutors contend. In a call to one of the elementary schools, Buchanan allegedly threatened to shoot the children as they exited the building.

According to the affidavit, Buchanan repeatedly claimed to have planted bombs on campus, forcing students and staff to shelter in place while police searched school grounds for explosives. Other times, he claimed to be waiting outside the school to shoot students as school lets out, investigators allege.

Two months later on April 27 and 28, Buchanan allegedly made additional bomb threats targeting two of the Los Angeles schools he had previously threatened, this time threatening to shoot children at other schools.

When an employee asked who was calling, Buchanan allegedly responded, "If you try to find out, I will shoot you," prosecutors said.

On April 28, Buchanan allegedly called the same school again and said there was a pipe bomb placed at the school's address. Police were again notified and the campus was locked down and searched, but no destructive devices were found.

That same day, Buchanan allegedly called a different elementary school and said, "Stop playing games, you know who this is. I am going to shoot the school. I know the kids are there."

That school was also placed on lockdown, but no explosives or unusual items were found.

Phone records determined that the threatening calls came from a number linked to Buchanan, the affidavit states.

If convicted, Buchanan would face up to 10 years in federal prison, prosecutors noted.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.