[KHTS] A 13-year-old student was taken into custody Friday at the Sylmar Detention Center after he allegedly made Facebook threats, officials said.
The Placerita Junior High student threatened to bring guns to the school on the social media site, according to Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station officials.
The student was detained around 5 p.m. Friday and taken into custody.
When questioned by deputies, the child reportedly admitted to the threats, but didn’t identify a specific target or give a plausible reason, according to Sheriff’s Station officials.
“It didn’t appear that there had been any attempt to carry out any type of assault,” said Sgt. Dan Stanley of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.
Deputies believe the student was acting alone, and no one was hurt in the incident.
Officials with the Hart district, which oversees Placerita Junior High School, said every incident of this nature is taken “very seriously.”
“If there’s a threat of violence, we have a threat assessment team,” said Kathy Hunter, director of student services for the Hart district. “We work directly with law enforcement and sometimes, with the Department of Mental Health, and the school (the student attends), and we do a full evaluation of the student and family situation and determine whether or not there’s an actual risk for the student to return to the campus or not.”
“Everyone takes their stake in the process very seriously,” Hunter said, adding no one wants to be the person who incorrectly assessed a threat as a prank.
There were two high-profile incidents last year involving Santa Clarita Valley high school students, one at Golden Valley High and one at Canyon High.
A 15-year-old Golden Valley High School student is due back in court May 15 regarding those charges.
Hart district officials said they couldn’t comment on specifics regarding the students because they were minors. However, records indicate one student was expelled as a result of threats made last year.
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station officials have given several presentations on the dangers of unregulated social media or online activity by children.
This recent incident is under investigation by COBRA detectives with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.
Reports indicate the Santa Clarita Valley has a higher than average number of reports for Los Angeles County.
A presentation on parents and monitoring online activity by Deputy Josh Dubin — one of several offered to parents recently as a partnership between the Sheriff’s Department, the city of Santa Clarita and the William S. Hart Union High School District — focused around two main concepts:
“Principle No. 1, you are the parents, you pay the bill, you own the phone, tablet or computer, and therefore you have the right and the responsibility to be a responsible watchdog,” Dubin said. “Principle No. 2: Get out of denial and learn to check up on your kids.”
Students dealing with bullying behavior can contact school officials, and there’s also several a local nonprofit that addresses issues associated with bullying.
The Santa Clarita Valley Youth Project encourages youth to deal with the concerns they face daily and to avoid high-risk activities such as drug use, unsafe sex, peer influence, truancy and running away, according to officials.
SCV Youth Project services include on-site individual and family therapy, case management, as well as crisis response, a self injury support Group and One on One Mentoring. Their campus outreach team works daily with students, school counselors and administrators on our high school campuses.
To learn more about the SCV Youth Project and how to help, call (661) 257-YOUTH or visit their website: www.helpnothassle.com.
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48 Comments
What a
My daughter goes there and hadn’t heard anything about this. :(
I CANNOT believe we are reading this HERE!! Helloooo school?!!!!!
My son does too, I did not know about this either.
They prob didnt want to alarm anyine as it was “stopped” before anything happened.. I would call the school tomorrow if i was u and demand an explanation why there was nothing said to the parents.. Smh
They prob didnt want to alarm anyine as it was “stopped” before anything happened.. I would call the school tomorrow if i was u and demand an explanation why there was nothing said to the parents.. Smh
Oh I will be calling
I totally agree. We were not notified about this.
I totally agree. We were not notified about this.
My nephew goes to this school and makes me scared to hear this. Glad he was taken into custody and the kids are safe.
Wtf is wrong with people
It is crazy. Don’t they have better things to do with themselves? At 13, I was having fun and was enjoying life. Why can’t they do the same nowadays?
I certainly hope he will be expelled. It’s never a “prank” to threaten anyone with violence.
Jessica Razo Contreras
STUPID AS FOO
How scary and wrong that parents have not been notified. If I had kids in school now a days I’d want an answer.
Omg my son goes there and he has not mention anything to me
Danny Fascovicz
Kym Rossi
Good. Also, why are people in disbelief? Weirdos.
Yikes!
Yikes!
A sad cry for attention. Glad he was picked up.
Jennifer Dunshee Campbell
Thx Lori ShragerBlumenthal. Will talk w babay.
School dropped the ball on the way information was distributed
School dropped the ball on the way information was distributed
Rose Agredano-Mistretta, did you know about this?
We did not hear anything about this.
Rose Agredano-Mistretta, did you know about this?
We did not hear anything about this.
Holly cow!!! It is scary
Holly cow!!! It is scary
I did not hear anything that is so scary.
just like the school did not notify anyone about such a serious threat, I seriously doubt this kid will be detained….with the new laws in place, is very hard to incarcerate anyone…..most likely kid will get probation
Would you really want to incarcerate a 13 year old because a cry out for attention? Of course treat it as the real deal but to really, throw him in prison?
This is tragic. While this is extremely serious, and the child should be Suspended, even expelled, sending him to Juvenile Hall in Sylmar will
destroy him. In that environment, he will be with real criminals. He will be tortured. He will never be the same. As far as a confession, I can share very graphic tactics (I have the recordings)personally used on my 13 year old to elicit a “confession”. It’s horrifying. My son spent years in Juvenile Hall after a false accusation that turned into a coerced confession. He literally hung himself in Sylmar, spent ten days recovering in Holy Cross. He was raised in that environment. He never made it out. He had a promising future. We throw our kids away. It’s almost sport. I don’t condone what happened. I do hold the adults in his life equally responsible. Did we find out what provoked this “threat”? So many times, in the aftermath we see a tragic life. Was he bullied? Did the family have an ongoing dialog with his Team at school? The Principal?
I’m guessing that several balls were dropped. This kid is now destined for a wasted life. I know. This happened to my child. Praying for everyone concerned. I’m really sad to read the vigilante remarks. We don’t have the whole story.
I have a lot of sorrow for this boy. 13 and attending Placerita Jr. High is traumatic for some kids. Are we asking the right questions? Sad!
a 13 yr old does not get incarcerated in a prison but a juvenile hall….very different from an adult facility.
Brianna Rivera
Maureen Talty Lowery
Thanks Nicky! This is quite disturbing! School hasn’t addressed this!
Ana Infante Maria Sedano Maria Morales Brenda Gtz Perez
Just got a call from the school about this a few mins ago
If this happen of Friday why did the school just call today to notify parents .. This is so crazy and my daughter didn’t even know about it ..
Julia Palafox
Not cool at all !!!!
Too many grammatical mistakes.
His parents should be proud.