Napa Student Suspected Of Plotting Mass Shooting At 2 Schools

NAPA, CA — A 14-year-old Napa boy has been arrested on suspicion of dissuading a witness and making criminal threats after allegedly threatening to plan a school shooting at two campuses in the Napa Valley Unified School District, according to police.

The suspect — who wasn't identified due to his age — allegedly told a fellow student at River Middle School that he was possibly planning a shooting at their campus and also at Vintage High School, Napa police Sgt. Amy Hunter said Monday night in a news release.

According to Hunter, the fellow student said he was going to report this to his parents and police, at which point the suspect allegedly threatened to kill the victim if he told on him.

Police said the victim contacted police Monday, Dec. 31 and provided investigators with evidence of the threats.

Napa PD investigators and school resource officers in turn served search warrants Wednesday, Jan. 2 at the suspect's residences in Napa.

"Further evidence related to the planning and research of a mass shooting incident was located at both locations," Hunter said.

The suspect student was arrested and has remained in custody since that time for the threats he allegedly made against his fellow student, the sergeant said Monday night, Jan. 7.

Police are hailing the victim a hero and do not believe there are any current threats to any campuses or students in the Napa Valley Unified School District.

"We want to praise the victim for coming forward and talking to their parents and the police," Hunter said. "We believe based on the information collected at this point, this was possibly a tragedy averted and are thankful for the information provided to us."

The incident, which happened during the school district's winter break with no school in session, remains under active investigation. Numerous other students and witnesses have been interviewed, Hunter said.

District schools reopened Monday, and Napa Valley Unified School District Superintendent Rosanna Mucetti on Tuesday addressed complaints by some parents about the district's delay in disclosing the alleged threats.

"I want to assure you that we have been in constant contact with the Napa Police Department throughout the incident and had there been an active threat that required families to take action, both law enforcement and the district would have been proactive and clear about that," Mucetti said.

"Because of the active investigation, which continued into Monday afternoon, we agreed with law enforcement that it was important not to jeopardize the investigation," Mucetti said. "We informed our River, Vintage and Harvest Middle School families at our earliest prudent opportunity, given law enforcement realities."

A Napa police official said Tuesday that evidence against the suspect included Internet searches about school shootings, as well as text messages between the suspect and the other student.

"We didn't find any weapons," police Capt. Patrick Manzer said. "There was no date when it was supposed to happen. We found nothing to indicate it was imminent."

Manzer, however, said the threat was beyond an ideological threat because of the amount of the teen's research on the Internet.

Police are encouraging anyone with further information on the case to contact Detective Jason Barrera at 707-258-7880, ext. 5325 or via email at jbarrera@cityofnapa.org.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

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