A student from San Marcos High School was arrested on Monday for allegedly posting a threat on social media against the school, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department (SDSO) confirmed.
The Instagram post did not target specific students or teachers on campus, but it did threaten the safety of fellow students, according to SDSO. Students who saw the post reported it to the school which contacted law enforcement.
The Sheriff's Department told NBC 7 that it's taking the threat seriously but some students said it was just a hoax.
“It was more of a joke. I know him personally,” said student Camden Meinor. “Yeah, he has sort of a weird sense of humor.”
Meinor says the student is a “nice kid” and that he just overdid it this time. But others told NBC 7, the threat made them worried nonetheless.
Student Kellan Smith says the individual had been making similar jokes for almost a month and he went overboard with this one.
“Before, he was just messing around and I thought it was messed up but I was whatever about it,” Smith said. “And then that happened and I was like oh that's really far.”
Local
Smith also said the teen is a nice person but the threat was scary.
“He had a shirt that said something bad on it,” he added. “It said ‘natural selection’ and the 4/20 date of Columbine shooting.”
The school reported the post to SDSO after students brought it to their attention. The San Marcos Unified School District released the following statement on Monday:
“San Marcos Unified takes threats made against the safety of our students and district very seriously. After being made aware of a threat to San Marcos High School via social media yesterday, administration reported the matter to the Sheriff’s department, who conducted an investigation.”
Deputies spoke to the student on campus and then searched his room at home. They did not find any weapons, but due to the nature of the threat, SDSO officials said they arrested the teen for making criminal threats.
