Student Arrested For Snapchat Post Traced To Rohnert Park: Police

ROHNERT PARK, CA — A 17-year-old Rancho Cotate High School student is accused of making a school shooting threat in a post to the social media app Snapchat, police said Monday in a news release. The post contained a picture of what appeared to be a U.S. government-issued assault rifle on someone's lap, along with "Don't go to school tomorrow" as the photo caption, according to Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety Deputy Chief Aaron Johnson.

The FBI, Snapchat, the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District and Rohnert Park police were all involved in the investigation that swiftly led to the student's arrest, Johnson said.

"An investigator from Snapchat Inc. was monitoring data on their website when they saw the posting and called the Federal Bureau of Investigation, (FBI) within hours of the posting," Johnson said. "Information was developed which included an IP address returning to an address in Rohnert Park as well as information for the responsible Snapchat account."

Rohnert Park detectives obtained a search warrant for the home address in question and when they served the warrant, the gun was not there. They spoke to the teenager who told them the "gun" pictured in the Snapchat post belonged to a friend and was not a real assault rifle, Johnson said.

Detectives tracked down the friend, who showed them the "gun," which turned out to be an Airsoft.

"The rifle is an 'Airsoft' gun; however, looks like a real firearm," Johnson said. "The gun was confiscated as evidence. Both the suspect and friend in this case were cooperative with investigators."

The friend, a 16-year-old student at Rancho Cotate High School, told police he was not aware the suspect was going to take a photo of the Airsoft, Johnson said.

"The suspect told detectives he was 'joking' around and did not think it would be a big deal," Johnson said.

The 17-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats and was booked into Sonoma County Juvenile Hall, where he remained as of Monday afternoon, according to Johnson.

Police did not disclose the name or address of the suspect nor that of his friend's because of their ages.

Johnson said Rohnert Park DPS officials were "appreciative of the swift actions by Snapchat Inc. as well as the collaboration with the FBI and the school district."

"Had this posting not been intercepted, it would have caused undue fear to all of the campuses in our community," Johnson said. "The department is committed to keeping the schools safe and will take a no-tolerance approach on campus safety issues."