Laguna Middle School shooting threat was a TikTok-related prank, SLO police say

A threat of a school shooting found on a restroom mirror at Laguna Middle School on Monday was a prank by a 13-year-old student and two friends, police said Wednesday.

The San Luis Obispo Police Department and Laguna Middle School administrators say the teenage girl, who is not being identified because she’s a minor, is responsible for writing “School Shooting 12-02-19” on the mirror.

The student likely wrote the message “with the knowledge and encouragement of two of her friends,” a police news release said.

According to the release, police believe the message was written to support a current trend on TikTok, a popular social media video application.

“Numerous TikTok videos have been circulating during the last several weeks urging teens to skip school on Dec. 2, 2019,” the release said. “The student who wrote this message was believed to have been following this trend and used the writing as a means to get other students to skip school on Dec. 2.”

Investigators do not believe the students involved had any intention to threaten anyone, or to follow through with a shooting or any other acts of violence, police said.

Nevertheless, the student’s parents were “notified about the serious nature of this incident,” police said.

No arrests are being made and any repercussions will be dealt out administratively by the school district, the release said.

“(School) officials feel confident this matter was dealt with aggressively and swiftly, and there is no ongoing threat towards Laguna Middle School students, staff or their families,” the release said.

The incident marked the third time in November that local schools have received threats.

A 17-year-old boy was arrested Saturday on suspicion of threatening violence at Arroyo Grande High School via social media, according to an Arroyo Grande Police Department news release. The post allegedly included a picture of the teenager posing with what looked like a 1911 handgun.

On Nov. 11, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office’s Dispatch Center received a 911 call from an unidentified man who made a “verbal threat” against Los Osos Middle School and then hung up, the agency said in a news release.

The San Luis Obispo Police Department added that it strongly encourages anyone with information regarding any threat towards any school populations to immediately notify law enforcement.

This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 4:24 PM.