A high school student in Moreno Valley, Calif. is in custody after allegedly threatening to shoot his teacher.
The teacher, who worked at Canyon Springs High School, alerted a school officer Monday about a violent note she received from 18-year-old student Fernando Hernandez. The officer detained Hernandez and police searched his home with his parents' consent. Authorities found ammunition and a legally-purchased bolt action rifle secured with a trigger lock.
Hernandez was arrested for making terrorist threats and transported to jail. The Moreno Valley police department is treating all threats as a potential danger and encourages anyone with more information about Hernandez's case to call Sergeant Rasmussen at 951-486-6700.
KABC notes that police have investigated several school-related threats in Southern California in the wake of Friday's massacre in Newtown, Conn.
Pomona, Calif. resident Kyle Bangayan was arrested Sunday after posting a Facebook update threatening to shoot up a school if people didn't stop posting about the Newtown shooting. Investigators found nine guns in his father's East Hollywood home, but none at Bangayan's own residence. He was later released without a charge.
Police also investigated school threats in Diamond Bar and San Dimas, notes KABC, but no charges were filed.
Police departments across the U.S. are on heightened alert about such threats after the Newtown tragedy. In Los Angeles, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck announced Monday that both uniformed and plainclothes officers will start making daily stops at 600 elementary and middle schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. LAUSD high schools are already guarded with armed school district police, reports the LA Daily News.
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