Former Atascadero Middle School teacher arrested after allegedly making terrorist threats
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A former Atascadero Middle School teacher was arrested earlier this month after allegedly making threats against Atascadero Unified School District employees.
According to a news release Tuesday night, Atascadero police were notified by district officials “that a former employee made threats to current district employees” in early January.
According to the release, the threats “were serious in nature” and the Police Department conducted an investigation confirming that James Klink, 56, had made terrorist threats in violation of Penal Code 422.
Since Klink no longer resided in a local jurisdiction, the Atascadero Police Department worked with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to take him into custody, according to the release.
Klink was booked into San Luis Obispo County Jail on Jan. 17 on suspicion of five charges of threatening with an intent to terrorize. He remains in custody.
Klink was a former teacher at Atascadero Middle School, though district officials said he had not been on campus since September 2022, KSBY reported Tuesday night.
The school district is “taking all appropriate personnel actions regarding the employee. ... In addition, the school district immediately and actively partnered with law enforcement to make sure our students and staff are safe,” Atascadero Unified School District Superintendent Tom Butler said in a letter to families of students at the middle school, according to KSBY.
A request for comment from Butler was not immediately returned Tuesday.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information related to the investigation is asked to contact the Atascadero Police Department at 805-461-5051.
This story was originally published January 31, 2023 at 8:00 PM.
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