Azusa Man Charged With Making Shooting Threats In San Gabriel Valley

WEST COVINA (CBSLA.com) — An Azusa man was charged Thursday with nearly a dozen felonies in connection with allegedly making a series of phone threats against several schools, a hospital and a shopping mall in the eastern San Gabriel Valley last week.

Gerardo Cortez, 26, didn't enter a plea on six counts of making criminal threats and five counts of falsely reporting an emergency.

Cortez, who was convicted in June for making a fake bomb threat in Pasadena, was arrested Tuesday in Monrovia after an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and several law enforcement agencies.

Last Thursday, officers searched the campus of Arcadia High School after someone called 911 and threatened to shoot students with an assault rifle.

On Sept. 10, the Arcadia Police Department received threats against the Westfield Santa Anita Mall. Also, Northview Intermediate School and Duarte High School were placed on lockdown after a threat was called in.

On Sept. 9, the Covina Police Department received a call from a man who said he was going to shoot people with an AK-47 at "Citrus Medical Center." The facility doesn't exist, so authorities searched and locked down multiple hospitals in the area.

That same day, the Monrovia Police Department got a telephonic threat from someone threatening to kill children at Santa Fe Middle School.

Cortez remains in custody in lieu of $250,000.

He's expected to be arraigned Oct. 4.