Authorities say a student’s plot for a mass shooting at a Southern California high school led to the discovery of a cache of weapons at the student’s home.
The alleged threat at El Camino High School occurred on Friday, two days after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 people dead.
Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District resource Officer Marino Chavez reported that he overheard the student threatening that ‘he was going to shoot up the school sometime in the next three weeks’, reported the Whittier Daily News.
‘Deputies learned that the 17-year-old had an extensive discipline history at the school,’ Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell said a press conference.
‘They also learned that a Smith & Wesson semi-automatic weapon was registered to his home address.’
After a student threatened to commit a mass shooting at El Camino High School in Whittier, California, deputies searched his home and found a cache of weapons (pictured) including two AR-15 rifles, two handguns and 90 high-capacity ammunition magazines
According to the sheriff, the teen’s older brother, who is a 28-year-old Army veteran, claimed ownership of the weapons (pictured). The student has been arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats and his brother was also arrested on suspicion of charges
A security guard reported that he overheard the student threatening that ‘he was going to shoot up the school sometime in the next three weeks’ (Pictured, El Camino High School)
After obtaining a warrant to search the student’s home in Norwalk, deputies found two AR-15 rifles, two handguns and 90 high-capacity ammunition magazines, McDonnell said.
According to the sheriff, the teen’s older brother, who is a 28-year-old Army veteran, claimed ownership of the weapons.
One of the AR-15 rifles was registered to the older brother, but the other was unregistered, ‘which in California is a felony,’ McDonnell said.
The student has been arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats and his brother was also arrested on suspicion of charges including possession of an assault weapon, import of high-capacity magazines, criminal storage of firearms and failure to register a personal handgun.
According to Robert Jacobsen, an attorney for the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District, told reporters the student was arguing with a teacher over a set of headphones.
A short time later, Chavez, the school security officer, allegedly overheard the student making threatening remarks.
No weapons were found on the student at the time, officials said. The security officer, Marino Chavez (pictured, Wednesday) notified school officials, who in turn contacted the sheriff’s department
Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell (pictured, Wednesday) said the teen had an extensive disciplinary history at the school
Chavez told reporters that the teenager had remarked ‘that within three weeks there would be a school shooting on campus.’
‘He did say that he was just kidding, that he did not mean it,’ Chavez said. ‘I said, “Well, you can’t say those things on a school campus”.’
No weapons were found on the student at the time, officials said. Chavez said he took the teen to the school’s office, where he confirmed the remark, prompting Chavez to contact the sheriff’s department.
The teen had an extensive disciplinary history at the school, McDonnell added.
This is the second serious threat at El Camino High School that week, the sheriff said.
On February 15, a student who had been suspended told his mother he wanted a school administrator dead. The mother reported her son, saying she did not know what he was capable of, said McDonnell.