New social media threats against Los Banos students not credible, police say

Los Banos police said an alleged threat on social media to shoot students from Pacheco High and Los Banos Junior High school was not credible.

Police and school investigators received word of social media posts circulating Monday night that contained threatening statements directed at several social media handles, Los Banos police Cmdr. Jason Hedden said.

Most of the social media handles belonged to students of Pacheco High School and Los Banos Junior High, Hedden said.

“We have no threats of a shooting or any type of direct threat against the school campuses,” Hedden said.

Eight additional police officers patrolled the two schools Tuesday as a precautionary measure, with some in unmarked vehicles. Stepping up patrols is a standard procedure anytime police investigate an alleged threat against schools, Hedden said.

“The police department is continuing our investigation,” a police department news release states. “But at this time the threatening comment has not been determined to be credible.”

Investigators on Monday had not identified a suspect, Hedden said, noting it takes significant time to investigate social media threats.

The Los Banos Unified School District officials worked with law enforcement.

None of the district’s school hours were affected, the release states.

The social media post is the second such alleged threat in two weeks, and third this school year.

On Nov. 1, a 14-year-old Los Banos High School student was arrested on suspicion of authoring threatening messages on social media that referenced a mass shooting.

A false threat sent to Los Banos Junior High’s anonymous tipster line on Sept. 26 hinted at a possible school shooting during lunch the next day. The only link authorities could find to the anonymous call was a student who had a small toy gun that didn’t resemble a real weapon.

The false threat led to a line of parents at the school wanting to take their children out of the class.

Hedden urged parents and the public to check out the school district and police department’s social media pages or to give them a call, before reposting or commenting on rumors on social media.

“We’re listing facts, not assumptions,” Hedden said, noting that comments of social media posts on community pages in many of these cases made it easier for false information to spread.

This story was originally published November 12, 2019 at 9:00 AM.