'Threat' of School Shooting at Vista Murrieta Leads to Student's Arrest: Police

MURRIETA, CA- Murrieta police say they've arrested a sophomore at Vista Murrieta High School who allegedly made a fake threat of a school shooting planned for Tuesday.

According to Murrieta Police Lt. Ron Driscoll, police received word Monday night regarding the threat.

"The investigation was immediately assigned to the Murrieta Police Department detective bureau-working in conjunction with school resource officers," Driscoll said in a news release. "Witnesses were contacted, and a VMHS student was identified as the one who made the threat. The student was later identified as a 16-year-old male, and a 10th grade student at VMHS."

Driscoll said detectives got a hold of the student in question, who allegedly admitted to making "statements of shooting another student." However, he told police he wasn't serious.

"According to the student, the statement was intended to be a 'prank' towards the other student-- the statement was clearly not taken that way," Driscoll said.

The boy was arrested and taken to Juvenile Hall on charges of causing a false emergency and possession of a "gravity knife," according to the lieutenant.

Police stressed the fact that they take any threats seriously.

"Those who choose to make threats of any sort, whether intended as a legitimate threat or a prank will be investigated by the Murrieta Police Department and charged accordingly," Driscoll said. "The Murrieta Police Department works daily and diligently with district personnel to provide a safe educational environment for the youth in our city."

Vista Murrieta High School officials echoed the same sentiment, in a statement they posted online. Here is the full statement from the school:

Last night Murrieta Police Department arrested one of our students for telling another student he was going to carry out a shooting at school today. The student told police he was pulling a prank when he made the statements and he didn’t intend to follow through with the threat. The student he spoke to reported it to a teacher late yesterday and Murrieta Police investigated through the night When they searched the student’s room there was no indication that he actually intended to carry out a school shooting.

I want to assure you that we take any threat to student and staff safety very seriously and we appreciate Murrieta Police for their prompt investigation which resulted in the student’s arrest. We also appreciate our School Resource Officer for the work he does every day to keep our school safe.

We commend the student who reported this and I would encourage parents and guardians to talk with their children about the importance of reporting anything they are aware of that might disrupt the safe learning environment at our school.

Any school safety concerns can be reported to any of our staff members or to Murrieta Police Department’s 24-hour dispatch line at (951) 696-3615. An anonymous call may be made to We Tip at 800 1-800-78-CRIME -or- 1-800-782-7463.

Although this was intended to be a prank, it is never appropriate to joke about something as serious as a school shooting. In addition to the legal consequences the student faces, you can be assured that the appropriate disciplinary action will be taken.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the school office.