Merced middle school student arrested after reported threatening post
Days after thwarting a possible school shooting threat against El Capitan High, police arrested another student who allegedly threatened another Merced school.
A tip from the Merced City School District’s “Stop It App” came in just after 8 p.m. Monday alerting Tenaya Middle School staff of a student’s Instagram post threatening to carry out a school shooting on campus, according to an MCSD news release.
School officials contacted the Merced Police Department, who investigated the threat and arrested the minor student at about 1 a.m. Tuesday, the release states. No weapon was located.
The student is expected to be charged with making terrorist threats. He was booked into Merced County juvenile hall and won’t return to the school, according to the release.
“Merced City School District applauds the student tipster who appropriately reported this threat,” the release states. “MCSD will continue to be vigilant to keep all students and staff safe from any possible threat so that they can focus on learning.”
A month of threats
Tuesday’s arrest was the second such arrest made in a week by Merced police.
A 17-year-old male El Capitan High student was arrested after he allegedly made a social media threat to carry out a school shooting on Friday. Weapons were found that were possibly connected to the threat.
That threat was made hours after a mass shooting at a Santa Clarita high school resulted in three students’ deaths, including the gunman.
Similar threats, most of them unsubstantiated, have been made this month toward schools or students all across Merced County.
A social media post last week reportedly threatened several individuals who were students at either Los Banos Junior High or Pacheco High schools in Los Banos. Police were still investigating that threat as of Monday.
On Nov. 1, a 14-year-old Los Banos High student was arrested on suspicion of authoring a threatening message on social media referencing a mass shooting.
A week before that, a message sent to the Los Banos Junior High anonymous tipster line turned out to be a false threat based on a student who had a small toy gun that didn’t resemble a real weapon.
The public angst surrounding the series of online threats led Los Banos school and law enforcement officials to call a school safety community meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 3, at the Los Banos Junior High multi-purpose room. on 1750 San Luis St.