Threats of violence at local schools is becoming an all-too-common occurrence in recent weeks, not just in Southern California, but all across the nation.
In the city of Riverside, police officers have investigated more than a dozen threats, and arrested four juveniles in just the past three weeks.
“We hate doing this,” said Ofc. Ryan Railsback with the Riverside PD. “We hate taking kids away from their parents and taking them to juvenile hall, but this has got to stop.”
The most recent incident happened on Monday night when students at Central Middle School told their parents about a troubling post made by a 13-year-old boy at the school. The Instagram post showed the boy holding what appeared to be a handgun, and a list containing names of students at the school who were potential targets.
Police officers investigated the threat, and determined the weapon in the picture was actually a toy gun and the threat was unfounded.
But the child was nevertheless arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats.