Precautionary measures
‘Unconfirmed threat’ prompts morning lockdown at SCV school
Threats allegedly made by a 15-year-old student to “shoot up the school and students” sparked the morning lockdown of Santa Clarita Valley International school Thursday, culminating in the suspected student being taken into custody off-campus.
The ninth-grade suspect, tracked down in Piru, was detained around noon on suspicion of making criminal threats, capping a three-hour precautionary lockdown of the Castaic charter school.
The safety measure that kept students in their respective classrooms all morning was lifted around 12:10 p.m. Thursday.
Shirley Miller, spokeswoman for the
SCV Sheriff’s Station, summed up the incident in a news release issued shortly after noon.
Overheard threat
“The student stated that he was going to ‘shoot up the school and students.’ His statement was overheard by another student, who later relayed the information to their parent,” she said in her news release.
The parent contacted the school Thursday morning, and administration determined that the student who made the alleged threats was not yet present at school.
School staff immediately contacted the SCV Sheriff’s Station and the school was put on lockdown as a precautionary measure, Miller said.
Deputies informed of the threat, were dispatched to the school on Hasley Canyon Road, around 9:30 a.m. after confirming that the student was not at school yet.
Some deputies provided security on campus, while others worked “diligently” with school officials to determine possible locations where the student could be found, she said.
Deputies, working on a tip, drove to Piru where they detained the teen suspect. They then brought him to the SCV Sheriff’s Station where he was booked.
School officials, who during the lockdown advised parents to keep their kids at home until the lockdown was over, later issued a statement after the ordeal was over.
“This morning, the SCVi leadership team locked down the site after receiving an unconfirmed threat,” Amber Raskin, SCVi co-founder, said in the statement.
“We notified the Sheriff’s Department immediately and deputies arrived at the site within minutes.”
Supervised areas
“All learners were safely locked down in secure and supervised areas,” she said. “Staff members and deputies were closely monitoring the perimeter of the site to ensure our buildings remained secure.”
Deputies surrounded the school in several cruisers, according to an eighth-grade student who contacted The Signal from inside one of the locked down classrooms.
“We were in class and then the teacher came in at about 9:30 (a.m.) and said, ‘Don’t freak out but there’s a lockdown.’ Since then, we’ve been stuck in the classroom.”
The classroom of students watched the buildup of law enforcement, parents and media vehicles. Some of the students continued working while other became distracted by the police presence, according to the student caller; almost all were on cellphones in touch with parents calling concerned for their well-being.
In a statement issued after the lockdown, SCVi officials applauded the efforts of April Cauthron, the campus’ safety and facilities director, who’s specially trained in lockdown procedures.
Cauthron, who’s certified in ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate), supervised the implementation of the school’s Emergency Operations Plan, officials said.
Other school threats
The incident at SCVi marked the third time in 24 hours, that threats received by school officials in the Santa Clarita Valley prompted a response by deputies over safety concerns.
Deputies were called to Arroyo Seco Junior High School on Wednesday in response to reports of a student having threatened another student.
No one was detained in that incident.
Deputies were also alerted Thursday to a threatening statement made towards West Ranch High School.
“This afternoon a student made a threatening statement on social media towards the school,” West Ranch Principal Mark Crawford said. “Students and parents acted appropriately and quickly by making administration aware of what was said.
Crawford said school administrators contacted law enforcement and met with the student in question.
“Our School Resource Officer has completed a threat assessment and parents have worked with us through this process,” he said. “It is safe for students and staff at West Ranch High School.
“While this is an unfortunate incident, we are pleased that by working together and acting swiftly, we were able to identify and work with the student in question, and then begin our safety procedures we have in place for this situation,” Crawford said.