On Saturday, August 16, 2014, about 10 p.m., deputies assigned to the Santa Clarita Valley Station received a phone call from a woman reporting that threatening posts had been made on Instagram. Deputies responded and found that an Instagram post, threatening to shoot high school students on an unspecified date had been posted. Threats against women and racial threats were also included. The post included photos of guns, dead bodies, and a school marque for a “Valencia High School”.
Detectives immediately responded to the station to begin working this investigation. A police report for Criminal Threats was written. At least twenty-five additional calls from residents alerting us to this post were received during the night.
The photos have been found to be stock photos from the internet. There is no evidence at all that the suspect has any access to these guns. The photo of the school marque is not from our local high school, it’s a similarly named high school in another state.
This case is currently under investigation. If you have any information as to who posted these threats, please calls Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station at 661-255-1121 or if you would like to remain anonymous, please call the LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
No further information regarding this incident is available at this time.
UPDATE AS OF 10:30 am on August 17, 2014.
A suspect has been arrested in the Instagram Criminal Threat investigation. The suspect is a teenager who attends one of the local schools in the Santa Clarita area. The suspect is a juvenile and will not be identified due to his age. He was arrested and booked at Santa Clarita Valley Station.
The Instagram posting contained threats to students and a local high school. Other threats were of a racist and sexist nature. Graphic photos were posted in connection with the threats. This posted threat caused more than a hundred residents to call Santa Clarita Valley Station during the night in fear that it could be real. The impact to the Sheriff’s Station was significant.
This investigation, which was started around 10:00 pm when concerned citizens notified the Sheriff’s Station about the Instagram posts, was completed by detectives from the Santa Clarita Valley Station C.O.B.R.A. (Career Offenders Burglary Robbery Apprehension) Team. Detectives who responded to the station to handle this investigation followed up on several leads and were ultimately led to a residence where a search warrant was executed, and a single male juvenile was detained.
Detectives recovered information that shows the suspect acted alone and no actual plan to assault any students or school had been formulated. No firearms were found at the residence, and the suspect’s family does not own any firearms. Based on statements made by the suspect, it appears he made these posts to get a reaction from friends on social media, realizing too late that the threats were being taken seriously.
The suspect was taken into custody and will be released into the custody of the Los Angeles County Probation Department.
Santa Clarita Valley Station would like to remind all those that use social media to do so with care. Parents should have an open dialog with their teenagers about the ramifications of posting photos and statements which might constitute a crime or cause other issues.
Santa Clarita Valley Station Sheriff’s deputies have a strong partnership with the Hart School District, the city of Santa Clarita and the County of Los Angeles officials. We have worked together throughout this investigation and will continue to place the safety of our children at the top of our priorities. Increased security is planned for the local high schools and junior high schools due to this event.
There is no further information available.
Written By:
Lieutenant Brenda Cambra
[email protected]
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
661-255-1121
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Website: http://www.santaclarta.lasd.org
LASD- Santa Clarita Valley Station-Los Angeles County Sheriff
23740 Magic Mountain Parkway
Valencia, CA 91355
