Paso teens playing Fortnite made ‘disturbing’ social media post with AR-15, police say
A social media threat involving an AR-15 rifle was made against Paso Robles schools on Sunday night, but classes were held as usual Monday after police determined the threat was unfounded, according to police and district officials.
The “disturbing” Snapchat post, which was sent to several Paso Robles High School students, was a photo of an AR-15 rifle with the caption, “Don’t go to school, there’s a school threat,” according to a Paso Robles Police Department news release.
The post was created by a male Paso Robles High School student while he was playing the video game Fortnite with two other male high school friends, police said.
“Officers determined the AR-15 rifle depicted in the online post was a screenshot image captured from the internet,” police said. “None of the students has access to an AR-15 rifle.”
The students involved said the Snapchat post was only intended for themselves, but “the online post quickly spread to concerned students and parents.”
Police said they interviewed the three teenagers involved as well as their parents, and they don’t consider the social media post to be a credible threat to Paso Robles High School students.
“Both the school and local authorities are taking every social media post very seriously and we will follow through with disciplinary/legal consequences,” the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District said in a statement posted to their website.
Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to call the Paso Robles Police Department at 805-237-6464.
In March 2018, Paso Robles police arrested two teenagers — one a Paso Robles High School student — on suspicion of weapons violations after they created a Snapchat post that showed one of them holding a gun.
This story was originally published February 25, 2019 at 9:52 AM.
