Teens planned to shoot students
CALEXICO — After the Police Department here first announced on May 3 of a threat of a possible school shooting, the Calexico Unified School District is now working diligently with appropriate agencies to assure students and staff are safe at all sites.
Safety plans and procedures are in place at all sites to certify that any future disruption is handled quickly and safely, noted Maria Ambriz, CUSD superintendent in an email. A crisis team has been identified to help students and staff.
In addition, extra security has been deployed to Calexico High School. The school administration continues to monitor and secure the campus. And all information that can be reported shall be communicated to the community and staff via the district website and or messaging system, remarked Ambriz.
On Wednesday, CUSD was notified by the police of possible threat of a school shooting. A juvenile suspect was taken into protective custody and transported to Imperial County Behavioral Health services for mental evaluation. The suspect purportedly had no access to weapons and was denied access to any schools.
Then Saturday, evening a second suspect was booked into juvenile hall in connection with the alleged plot. This suspect allegedly admitted he and his co-conspirator planned to shoot random students. An investigating officer allegedly found text messages and maps shared by the two suspects.
Just Tuesday morning, Calexico police apprehended a third suspect, remarked Lt. Gonzalo Gerardo. He is described as between 14-and 16-years-old and a Calexico High School student. All three were booked for conspiracy to commit murder and stalking.
Lt. Gerardo added, “The school administration was really helpful and prevented the case from turning into a tragedy. Also, an officer who contacted a parent of one of the suspects admitted there were several firearms at their residences.”
Police confirmed there was no shooting but no further details were released.
In a somewhat similar incident, on the morning of April 25, El Centro police officers responded to a school threat at Southwest High School.
Sources relayed the threat of an imminent school shooting. A threatening letter was found on the school campus noted Bernardo Valenzuela, principal, in an email.
The Southwest administrative staff and school resource officer did an investigation and established it was not a credible threat. Valenzuela assures the community safety of students is a first priority. He requests all parents report any suspicious activity on or around schools to school offices or the El Centro Police.
And following up on a somewhat older case, in mid-October of 2015, Imperial County Sheriff’s Office arrested Raymond Gastelum Martinez, then 18, for posting statements to his social media account for threatening to murder people at the Imperial Valley College campus. He was not enrolled at the college and ICSO investigator Lt. Jimmy Duran determined did not possess a firearm or have access to one. While Martinez admitted he made threats his motives remain unknown.
“The subject pled no contest, and was placed on three years’ probation that ends about November or December,” recalled Duran. “He’s not in custody but just held to court imposed conditions of probation.”