Paso Robles teen arrested for allegedly threatening to commit a school shooting
A teenage boy was arrested Sunday evening after he allegedly threatened to commit a school shooting in Paso Robles, according to the Paso Robles Police Department.
The 13-year-old boy allegedly sent a photo of a handgun to another student, threatening the school shooting at Daniel E. Lewis Middle School, police wrote in a post shared on the department’s Facebook page.
“Shortly after sending the threat, the 13-year-old walked back his comments, stating he was only joking,” police said.
In response to the report of the threat, police searched the boy’s room and cellphone. No weapons or any other indications that the threat was legitimate were found, according to the post.
“We were able to determine the photograph of the handgun was a stock photograph obtained from the internet,” police said. “The student told officers the threat was meant as a joke.”
Officers arrested the boy and he was booked at the San Luis Obispo County Juvenile Hall for making a school threat, according to the post.
“Out of an abundance of caution, there will be an increased police presence at our schools tomorrow morning,” police said. “We want to thank those who reached out to our department last night concerning the threat.”
This is the third time police have arrested students at the middle school in the past week.
On Friday, two 14-year-old students were arrested after allegedly vandalizing and setting fires on campus; later that same day, three 13-year-old students were arrested after bringing a pocketknife, toy gun and fake hand grenade to school.
