14-year-old arrested after California high schools threatened on social media

By Carlos Castañeda

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    PETALUMA, California (KPIX) — Threats of violence against two Petaluma schools posted on social media on Wednesday resulted in the arrest of a 14-year-old, authorities said Thursday.

Petaluma police said in a press statement that the threat against Casa Grande High School and Petaluma High School indicated that an act of violence would happen on a Friday afternoon. The department said it became aware of the threat through the 3rd party STOPit application which provides emergency response solutions for school districts and other industries. Dispatchers received calls from parents and students about the social media posts shortly after, police said.

Police said no information led the department to believe the threat was credible, but it began an investigation along with school administrators and deployed officers to the campuses.

In a follow-up statement Thursday, police said officers identified the person suspected of making the threat as a 14-year-old Petaluma resident, police said.

Officers arrived at the teenager’s home on Wednesday evening and took him into custody, police said. No other information about the suspect was provided. Officers searched his home and no guns were found, police said.

The suspect was booked at Sonoma County Juvenile Hall.

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