MENIFEE (CNS) - A 12-year-old boy suspected of threatening violence at a Menifee middle school, as well as causing alarm at a nearby elementary school, was in custody today.
The youth, identified only as a Bell Mountain Middle School student, was arrested and booked into Riverside Juvenile Hall on Tuesday on suspicion of making criminal threats.
According to Capt. Dave Gutierrez of the Menifee Police Department, a staffer at Callie Kirkpatrick Elementary School on Reviere Drive received an email at about 11 a.m. Tuesday indicating violence was imminent at the location.
The email's sender was unknown, but the message contained a picture of a gymnasium at another school, not the Kirkpatrick campus, Gutierrez said.
He said patrol officers were summoned by the staffer, and after viewing the photo, they determined the picture was snapped inside the gym at Bell Mountain, which is in the 28500 block of La Piedra Road, less than a mile from the Kirkpatrick campus.
The police spokesman said both campuses were locked down ``out of an abundance of caution'' while an investigation got underway.
Twenty officers and detectives deployed to the two schools.
``While officers worked to deem both campuses safe, detectives worked to identify the person responsible for posting the threat,'' Gutierrez said.
``Within an hour, detectives were able to identify the person responsible for posting the threat as a 12-year-old male at Bell Mountain Middle School.''
The lockdowns were lifted, and the boy was located and detained in a classroom without incident.
``The investigation revealed the 12-year-old acted alone and did not have the current means to act on the threat,'' Gutierrez said. ``Although law enforcement has seen an increase in these types of posts around the region, MPD wants the public to know all threats, whether specific, implied or otherwise that cause fear in our community will not be tolerated.''
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