Pixley teen threatens to ‘shoot up the school’

Boy was arrested by TCSO Thursday afternoon

A Pixley Middle School teenager was arrested Thursday after threatening to “shoot up the school.”

Guns also were found in the home of the 13-year-old boy during a search Thursday, the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office said.

The middle schooler was arrested Thursday afternoon and booked into the Tulare County Juvenile Detention Facility on suspicion of making criminal threats.

“These are the kinds of calls that we, as a department, hate to get,” said Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux. “But when we get them, we take them very seriously. As we saw in Florida and countless times before, we can’t afford to brush these off as juvenile threats.”

The arrest came a day after 17 people were killed by a teenage gunman at a high school in Parkland, Fla.

Pixley Union School District officials declined to comment about the incident and referred all media inquiries to TCSO. The district has an elementary school and a middle school. Pixley is small agricultural community with a population of 3,310 people located nearly 9 miles south of Tipton along Highway 99.

The threat made online was discovered and reported to TCSO at about 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. The boy was identified and detained by school officials until TCSO detectives arrived.

Sheriff Boudreaux commended Pixley school officials for their quick response and reminded others to do the same.

“There couldn’t be a more appropriate time to remind people that, if you see something suspicious or that seems off,

say something,” Sheriff Boudreaux said. “It is so important. And you can do it anonymously. Our deputies can’t look into a situation if they know nothing about it.”

Detectives found evidence related to the threats and then executed a search warrant at the teenager’s home in Pixley, where they found handgun and four rifles, TCSO reported. In addition to questioning the 13-year-old, anyone living at the house was also

interviewed by detectives.

“Unfortunately, school shootings are now a part of the narrative in this country,” Boudreaux said. “So our deputies are going to investigate this fully.”

Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department at 7336218 or send anonymous information by sending a text or email to TCSO@ tipnow.com or call 7254194.