Student Arrested In Santa Clarita School Shooting Threat

CASTAIC (CBSLA) – A 15-year-old freshman student has been arrested in connection with an alleged shooting threat that forced the lockdown of a Santa Clarita school Thursday.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reported just after noon that the boy had been taken into custody in connection with the threat against Santa Clarita Valley International School. He is facing charges of criminal threats.

The sheriff's department told CBS2 that deputies were called to the school at around 8:45 a.m. Thursday after learning that on Wednesday, the suspect had reportedly told another student that he was going to "shoot up the school and students."

Deputies went to the boy's home in Piru and arrested him on one count of making criminal threats.

During the response, the school was placed on lockdown for several hours. The lockdown was lifted around noon.

SCVi is a K-12 charter school.

During the lockdown, the school wrote on its website: "The SCVi leadership team has locked down the site because of an unconfirmed threat we received this morning. The Sheriff's Department was immediately notified and deputies are at SCVi."

This is the latest in a series of student arrests across the Southland this week linked to similar threats.

A student was arrested in a school shooting plot in South Whittier last Friday after a stash of guns were found at his home, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.

Two Long Beach students were arrested Wednesday, separately accused of making threats to commit shootings at their schools. As many as four incidents have been reported recently in Long Beach. On Thursday, a 14-year-old eighth-grader at a Long Beach K-8 school was arrested for allegedly threatening school officials. He was taken into custody at around noon at the Tincher Prepatory School.

A 27-year-old Norco man was arrested Monday for a threat against a local college campus. A cache of weapons were found at his home, Riverside County Sheriff's deputies said.

It all comes in the wake of Florida's deadly school shooting last week which left 17 people dead.