Teen arrested in connection with threats to Coachella Valley High School
A 17-year-old has been arrested for allegedly threatening to shoot up Coachella Valley High School, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department announced Tuesday.
According to the Sheriff’s Department, over the last two days, deputies received numerous calls regarding social media posts threatening violence at CVHS. One of those posts included a picture in which the person suspected of being behind posts directly states they were planning to shoot up the high school.
A CVHS parent shared one of the posts with News Channel 3 early Tuesday morning. The message told students not to go to school on Tuesday if they want to stay alive.
Representatives of the Coachella Valley Unified School District and the Sheriff’s Department told News Channel 3 the threats were unsubstantiated and not credible.
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/RSO/status/1168891662782935045″,”author_name”:”Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/RSO”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;&#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/CoachellaValley?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#CoachellaValley&#lt;/a&#gt; HS (CVHS)&#lt;br&#gt;&#lt;br&#gt;Deputies from the Thermal Sheriff’s Station conducted an investigation into a Snapchat image circulating around social media that indicates a threat to CVHS. The investigation revealed no credibility to this threat…&#lt;/p&#gt;– Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept (@RSO) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/RSO/status/1168891662782935045?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;September 3, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
Superintendent, Dr. Maria Gandera told News Channel 3 the threat was investigated immediately out of an abundance of caution.
Although the threats were deemed not credible, investigators say they determined there was probable cause to arrest a 17-year-old male on suspicion of criminal threats. The 17-year-old is not currently a student at Coachella Valley High School. Authorities did not state whether the teen was a valley resident.
Gandera said the threat was not focused “on our CVHS but to general CVHS. Speaks to CHUla Heads – not us.” There is a Chula Vista High School near San Diego that shares the same school letters “CVHS.”
The teen will be booked at the Indio Juvenile Hall.
At this time, the investigation remains active. Investigators say they continue to believe there is no credible threat based on the social media post.
Anyone with more information on this incident is encouraged to contact Investigator Hammond at the Sheriff’s Thermal Station by calling (760) 863-8990
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department takes all potential threats of violence very seriously and thoroughly investigates all reported incidents. Authorities encourage students, parents, and school staff to immediately report any information that poses a threat to the safety of others.
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/RSO/status/1168892063770918912″,”author_name”:”Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/RSO”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;&#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/CoachellaValley?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#CoachellaValley&#lt;/a&#gt; &#lt;br&#gt;Cont…&#lt;br&#gt;&#lt;br&#gt;We are working in conjunction with the school district to ensure the safety and security of all students and staff. &#lt;br&#gt;&#lt;br&#gt;▪️If you see or hear something, say something ▪️ &#lt;a href=”https://t.co/V4IxT8A6yb”&#gt;https://t.co/V4IxT8A6yb&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;– Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept (@RSO) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/RSO/status/1168892063770918912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;September 3, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
Stay with News Channel 3 for any updates.
