LCHS student arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats, sheriff’s officials confirm
In an email sent out to parents Wednesday, La Cañada Unified School District Supt. Wendy Sinnette confirmed a La Cañada High school student was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats, although the arrest was not made on any LCUSD school campus.
“Within the last 24 hours, an LCHS student was detained under California Penal Code Section 422 for making criminal threats,” Sinnette said in the email. “We are being vigilant in monitoring the safety and security of students and staff and taking immediate and appropriate measures, both proactively and in response to any dynamic situation.”
The superintendent assured as of Wednesday there was “no current active threat to any of our students, staff, teachers or facilities.”
Lt. De Markus Smith, watch commander for the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station, said officials with the school contacted the station Tuesday with a report of a possible threat.
“We’ll do an investigation and then see if a threat is credible,” he said of the general procedure followed in such incidents. “In this case, we determined the threat was credible.”
The student — whose identity is not being released to protect the privacy of a minor — was detained and taken to juvenile hall. A court date is pending, Smith said.
The incident follows a Feb. 27 school board meeting during which scores of parents expressed their frustration about drug use and student safety after two students were arrested in drug-related incidents. At that meeting, speakers discussed hearing of a male high school student who’d been reportedly making threats to the campus.
Dep. Eric Matejka, who works as a school resource officer at La Cañada High School, said at the meeting those reports were followed up on, and the rumor of threats made were “unfounded.” It is unclear whether the student arrested Tuesday has any connection to the student mentioned at the school board meeting.
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