Trial underway in Imperial High threats case

BRAWLEY — A jury on Monday heard opening arguments and initial witness testimony in the criminal case stemming from an Imperial teen’s arrest in February 2018 for allegedly threatening to shoot two classmates.

The trial at the county Superior Court in Brawley is expected to last several days, with the jury possibly beginning its deliberations at the close of next week, the court indicated.

Karl Manaig, who remains out of custody on bail, is facing two felony charges of making criminal threats that would result in death.

He was arrested by Imperial police on Feb. 16, 2018, after multiple Imperial High classmates told o cials that Manaig had allegedly made remarks that prompted some students to fear for their lives and safety.

Maniag’s alleged threats were made during a Feb. 15, 2018, conversation he had with two classmates about the deadly high school shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., that occurred a day prior

Manaig is alleged to have told the two classmates that “if (he) could” shoot up two Imperial High classrooms he would do so. When one of the classmates asked whether he would also shoot both of them, Manaig is alleged to have answered yes, should they fail to run away fast enough.

The remark reportedly “terrified” one of the students, who promptly notified a school official of the incident, county Deputy District Attorney Mario Vela told jurors.

“This was not a joke,” Vela said. “This was not an overreaction.”

In contrast to Vela’s characterization of the incident, county Deputy Public Defender Darren Bean told jurors that Manaig had indeed made such a remark, but it was in poor taste and not intended as a genuine threat.

“Stupid comment, yeah. Threats, no,” Bean said during his opening statement. “‘If I could’ means ‘I can’t.’”

Both former classmates and alleged victims testified on Monday about their recollection of their conversations with Manaig, as well as what they had subsequently told investigators and testified about in court during previous pre-trial hearings.

Former senior classmate Natalie Ryan told the court that she was frightened enough by Manaig’s reported remarks to notify the school’s vice principal after classes had finished for the day.

“I was threatened,” Ryan told the court. “I felt like he just told me he would shoot me if he had the chance.”

Similarly, former senior classmate Gabriel Lemus Anchondo also testified about the conservation he, Ryan and Manaig had the day following the Parkland, Fla., mass shooting.

Though he said he did feel threatened by Manaig’s remarks, Anchondo further testified that he did not feel in any immediate danger of being shot or killed by Manaig, who Anchondo had known since the second grade.

During cross examination, Bean referred both witnesses to their prior courtroom testimony and statements provided to investigators that appeared at odds with testimony provided on Monday.

In Ryan’s case, she had previously testified that she didn’t report Manaig’s alleged threats to any adult until a day after their Feb. 15, 2018, classroom conversation, Bean pointed out.

When questioned about the discrepancy, Ryan said she must have gotten the date wrong during her initial testimony. Anchondo, too, was questioned about a statement he previously provided an investigator that described Manaig as having stated only Ryan, and not Anchondo, would be shot if she did not run away fast enough.

“I forgot to mention myself,” Anchondo said on Monday.

A notebook of Manaig’s that contained a list of firearms and their capacity for seriously wounding or killing people was also a source of considerable testimony on Monday.

The list was reportedly created by Manaig as part of a school assignment that required students to list a fictional country’s manufacturing capabilities.

Despite Anchondo’s testimony that he found the list “weird,” excessive and irrelevant to his and Manaig’s joint classroom project, Anchondo told the court he still had intended to continue to work on the project with Manaig at the latter’s home, until Manaig’s arrest on Feb. 16 put an end to those plans.

The notebook’s list of firearms also had prompted the students’ economics teacher at some time to criticize Manaig for its irrelevance to the classroom project, which in turn reportedly prompted Manaig to state to Anchondo that if the teacher ever criticized his classwork again he would “punch him in the face,” Anchondo testified.

Later, Anchondo would concede that he had never observed Manaig punch anyone in the face or anywhere else, for that matter.

Previously, Anchondo had also testified that as second-graders, Manaig had once poked and then chased Anchondo around with a pencil. When Anchondo had tripped and fell on the ground, Manaig had reportedly stuck him in the back with the pencil, which punctured the skin and drew blood, Anchondo said.

The incident reportedly resulted in a day’s suspension for Manaig.

Manaig’s previous expulsion from Imperial High for reportedly bringing a knife onto campus was also brought up in court on Monday, though both students said they were aware of the expulsion but did not know what had prompted it.

Following the students’ testimony, Imperial High Vice Principal David Shaw testified about his response to students’ concerns on Feb. 16, 2018, that Manaig was making “inappropriate” remarks that were concerning to students.

The high school had planned an active shooter exercise around the time in question, and Manaig had allegedly told students that he would be willing to serve as the shooter.

The students’ reporting of the alleged comments subsequently prompted Shaw that day to interview Ryan, request a copy of Manaig’s notebook, and a review of a classroom laptop that Manaig had reportedly used to watch videos of people target practicing as well as video game clips depicting similar content.

The last to testify on Friday was Imperial Police Department Sgt. Alberto Hernandez, who spoke about his preliminary response to the high school and contact with Manaig, as well as Manaig’s eventual arrest for allegedly making criminal threats.

Hernandez is scheduled to return to the witness stand today. Jurors will also have the opportunity to view a video recording of investigators’ interview with Manaig once he was formally placed in custody.