SANTA CLARITA (CNS) - Sheriff's deputies will patrol La Mesa Junior High School in Santa Clarita today in response to an alleged verbal threat made against the campus.
A boy who attends the school was detained Monday night, but it was unclear if he is the person suspected of scrawling a threatening message on the wall of a campus restroom last week.
The boy allegedly made verbal threats to “shoot up the school,” according to Shirley Miller, public information officer with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Santa Clarita Valley Station.
The scrawled message, which was found on Thursday, referenced a shooting and used the number 21, Miller said.
The school will remain open today, but out of an abundance of caution and in order to reassure parents and others concerned by the message, sheriff's patrols will be added to the school's security measures, Miller said.
Principal Michele Krantz issued her own message informing parents of the threatening statement and the patrols at the school at 26623 May Way.
The author of the possibly threatening message has not been identified, but the matter remains under investigation and whoever is responsible faces possible arrest on suspicion of making criminal threats, Miller said.
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