Man allegedly threatened to fire AK-47 at schools and hospital

A 26-year-old man arrested in connection with making telephone threats in the San Gabriel Valley threatened to shoot an AK-47 assault rifle at schools and a hospital, authorities said Tuesday night.

Gerardo Cortez was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon as he was leaving his Monrovia home, according to authorities.

Cortez is suspected of making a series of threatening phone calls last week that forced officials to lock down schools and search hospitals in several San Gabriel Valley cities, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.

At a news conference, Capt. Mike Parker said Cortez had been “arrested and convicted for a similar offense.” Parker said he had no details on that case.

Sheriff’s Department online booking records show that a Gerardo Cortez with the same birth date was arrested in Pasadena on Oct. 25 and sentenced to 486 days on June 21. The records do not state whether the sentence was suspended or credit was given for time served in county jail.

That case involved bomb threats made to a Pasadena middle school, a post office and a local government building, according to media reports.

On Tuesday, law enforcement authorities said the first call in the latest series of threats was made Sept. 9 to the Covina Police Department. The caller said he was at “Citrus Medical Center.”

“I have an AK-47 and I’m going to start shooting people right now,” the caller said, according to a transcript of the call cited by Parker.

He said there is no Citrus Medical Center but that authorities searched several hospitals that day in West Covina and Glendora “out of an abundance of caution.”

Another call was made Sept. 9 to the Monrovia Police Department during which the caller threatened to shoot an AK-47 at Santa Fe Middle School, according to authorities.

Other threats were made to the Santa Anita Mall in Arcadia, as well as Duarte High School and Arcadia High School.

“We take these threats seriously,” Parker said. “We are not going to tolerate people threatening children and adults.”

More than 100 deputies and police officers, along with agents from the FBI office in Los Angeles, launched a joint investigation that led to Cortez’s arrest.

He was being held Tuesday night at the Monrovia jail in lieu of $250,000 bail.

Anyone with information is asked to call Monrovia police at (626) 256-8041 or LA Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.

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robert.lopez@latimes.com