A La Cañada High School student was arrested Monday after authorities were alerted that he made a post on Instagram threatening another student, according to Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Dep. Eric Matejka, who said both juvenile students are in special needs classes.
The student was released to his parents, and after a search of the family’s home, it was determined there was no viable threat, Matejka said.
“There was an image, which appears to be taken from the internet, posted on social media with a threat directed to the other student,” said Matejka, who was notified about the social media post by school security.
“Our biggest thing, what we want to do is eliminate any risk factors for students or staff there,” Matekja said. “Based on our investigation, we don’t see a threat. The person making the threat probably doesn’t understand the gravity of what he did.”
CV Sheriff’s Capt. Chris Blasnek said that if there had been a threat to students, the community would have been alerted. There was no evidence of a rumored “hit list” associated with the incident, he added.
Said Blasnek: “If it was something bad, we would have made sure everybody knew.”
“We have school response plans in effect that deal with everything from an active shooter to fires and earthquake and things like that,” Matejka said. “And if they deemed it unsafe, the school would send out that information.”
In a release Wednesday, the La Cañada Unified School District wrote that the student was suspended for three days, plus two additional days of on-campus digital citizenship education.
“A public statement was not issued by site administration or law enforcement to school families [on Monday] because it was conclusively determined that there was no threat to public safety,” the release stated.
In an email to parents Wednesday, Superintendent Wendy Sinnette added: “We are grateful to our administrative team for their diligence and quick action. Student and staff safety remains our greatest priority and we will continue to take any threatening behavior with immediate action.
“I appreciate every concern related to student and community safety and security, especially during these times when we are all experiencing feelings of heightened risk, anxiety and sadness given the senseless violence occurring at the national level with Sunday’s tragedy in Las Vegas.”
LCHS Deemed Safe After Arrest
