Neighbors and friends that knew a 17-year-old high school student accused of threatening to kill students and teachers at an Oceanside high school said the incident is shocking.
The student, who had body armor and wrote of killing others, was arrested Friday on suspicion of threatening El Camino High School, according to Oceanside police.
Neighbors said they saw police cars and an evidence van parked outside their apartment complex on Brisbane Way, north of State Route 76 and west of Douglas Drive.
"I'm just kind of shocked because he's a really quiet kid and I used to have him in Earth Science last year and I didn't really expect it," said Asia Maelapid, a neighbor.
Those that knew him say the boy came from a nice family and kept to himself.
The Ocean Shores High School student was brought to administrators for writing a note, under a false name, that threatened a teacher, investigators say.
When they performed a safety check on him, officials found an empty handgun holster in his pants.
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They also discovered his journal. Police say in it, he had written about killing people in a school shooting at El Camino High, where he had gone to school before attending Ocean Shores High.
At that point, the 17-year-old was taken into custody. When detectives served a search warrant to his house, they went through his bedroom and found body armor, replica guns and handwritten notes threatening violence toward people at school, according to police.
They say in his writings were references to the Sandy Hook school shooting.
"I don't know what his plans were, but you have to assume that for the safety of everyone else, expect the worst," said Lt. George Darrah. "My reaction is you have to keep the school safe."
Police with canines were seen searching the Ocean Shores campus Friday night, looking for evidence.
One parent said she worried because the police have been called out to the home twice before.
“Because I have a teenager and like the 16 and 14 and I want them to be to be safe coming home from school or leaving them alone in the house just in case I have to go somewhere and now when I saw the police cars yesterday and I heard that something's going on then it started making me think that," Revilina Griffith, a parent, said.
NBC 7's Liberty Zabala knocked on the door that neighbors say was searched by officers, but no one answered.
NBC 7 has reached out to both schools but has not heard back.
No weapons were found on either campus. The student is now facing criminal charges.
