A 16-year-old San Benito High School student was arrested
Tuesday afternoon on charges of terrorist threats that included
threatening classmates, according to police officials.
A 16-year-old San Benito High School student was arrested Tuesday afternoon on charges of terrorist threats that included threatening classmates, according to police officials.
The male teenager was taken to juvenile hall and released into the custody of an adult Wednesday, said Capt. Bob Brooks of the Hollister Police Department. The identity of the juvenile is not being released because of his age.
The arrest was made based on interviews with the suspect and four students who were allegedly threatened by the suspect, Brooks said.
School officials would not comment on whether the suspect was in school Wednesday or would be in the near future, but Brooks said it was doubtful.
“I would be surprised if they let him back in any time soon,” Brooks said.
Also, there have been no attempts by the school to notify parents at this time, said SBHS Superintendent Jean Burns Slater.
“If we feel that students are in physical jeopardy, notices will be sent out,” she said. “This is a very serious issue.”
Although details are sketchy to protect the identity of the suspect, threats were made to other students sometime between Friday and Monday, Brooks said.
A source relayed the information to SBHS Principal Karen Schroder, who forwarded the information to the Attendance and Discipline Office early Tuesday morning, according to Santiago Echaore, vice principal of student management.
Shelly Maupin, manager of discipline and attendance, began an investigation into the threats Tuesday morning. The investigation included interviewing “anyone that could have been associated with this incident,” Echaore said.
Sometime Tuesday, the suspect was removed from class and interviewed, Echaore said. By 12:30 p.m., police had been called to the school and the suspect was arrested on suspicion of making terrorist threats, Brooks said.
A person making a terrorist threat is defined by California State Penal Code as “Any person who willfully threatens to commit a crime which will result in the death or great bodily injury to another person, with the specific intent that the statement, made verbally, in writing, or by means of an electronic communication device, is to be taken as a threat, even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out.”
The police department’s report will be forwarded to the district attorney’s office in the next few days, Brooks said. The district attorney’s office will prosecute the case if it feels there is enough evidence, Brooks said.
The charge is categorized as a felony and the maximum sentence would be time served at the California Youth Authority until the juvenile turns 25, Brooks said.
Allegedly, the suspect had a “hit list,” but school officials would not comment on whether a physical list was found. They also would not comment on who was on the alleged list. When the suspect was removed from class for questioning, school officials searched him, but Echaore would not comment on whether a weapon was found on the suspect.
While police are pursuing the case from a criminal standpoint, SBHS is investigating it on the basis of discipline, Brooks said. To protect the confidentiality of the student, school officials would not comment on what action will be taken against the student.
“We’ve been following the education code, following our procedures, following our School Board adopted policies and procedures,” Slater said.
According to Section 48900 of the state Education Code, a student can be suspended and/or recommended for expulsion if the student “has intentionally engaged in harassment, threats, or intimidation, directed against school district personnel or pupils, that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, and invading the rights of either school personnel or pupils by creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment.”
If the student is recommended for expulsion, the case would go before the district’s Board of Trustees in a closed session.
Arrests made on suspicion of terrorist threats are not uncommon, Brooks said.
“They’re not prevalent, but they’re not rare, either,” he said. “… (Such suspects) put someone in such a state of fear that they fear imminent bodily harm.”
