Student under investigation for alleged school threat

Lancaster Sheriff’s Station is aware of a potential threat to a local charter school. Due to an abundance of caution, the charter school selected to shut school and school activities down for today. At this time, our detectives have conducted a full investigation and this is not a credible threat. On Thursday, December 5, 2019, a 13 year old male student of the charter school told his parents that he overheard a portion of a conversation between a student and teacher that caught his attention. He heard certain words that concerned him. The student’s parents immediately notified the charter school who contacted Lancaster Station. The school elected to close school and cancel school programs as the validity of the comments were investigated.

LASD  Deputies were able to identify the student who was initially involved in the conversation, a 17 year old male. Upon interviewing the teacher and the 17 year old student, it was determined that the student was asking his teacher questions about school shootings, shared his fear and how nervous he was while the teacher comforted him and told him safety plans were in place. At no point during the conversation was a threat expressed or made. Unfortunately, the 13 year old student did not get an opportunity to hear the entire conversation and the parts of the conversation he did hear, were taken out of context. Our deputies feel confident there is no threat to the school at this time in regards to this incident. We thank the 13 year student who brought it to his parent’s attention, his parents for quickly notifying the school, the school administrators for acting swiftly and contacting our station, to the teacher for handling a difficult conversation with the 17 year old student well and to the 17 year old student for being brave enough to reach out to his teacher when he was scared. Everyone involved did the “right” thing and this matter was resolved quickly. We thank our staff, parents and students who remain vigilant and help us keep our schools safe. Remember, if you see something, say something! #LASD #AV411 #SCHOOLSAFETY