Santa Rosa police have arrested two students after threats were reported at three city schools. In one case, a suspect allegedly was carrying a loaded handgun in his backpack.
Two incidents Friday occurred within hours of each other. At around 9 a.m., administrators at Santa Rosa High School were alerted to a post on Snapchat asking whether a shooting was expected on campus. After police arrived and investigated, they determined it was a hoax.
At 10 a.m., police received a call that there was a student armed with a gun at Montgomery High School. Santa Rosa police sergeant Christopher Mahurin said the student was thankfully found and removed from class before an incident could occur.
"While searching the student we did find a loaded Glock handgun in his backpack," Mahurin told KCBS Radio. "Through the investigation, it did appear that the student brought it to the campus on purpose, but there was no intent to hurt anybody." The student was taken into custody.
A second student was arrested at North Valley School on Thursday after he allegedly made death threats to another student and said he wanted to send bombs to the school.
Mahurin said the increase in threats and anxiety come in the wake of the fatal shootings of four students at Oxford High School in Michigan. "When we see things nationwide about shootings or even locally, we do tend to see an uptick in social media talking and chatter about it," he admitted.
Either way, hoax or not, Mahurin said police must respond to every incident posted.
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