California sheriff’s deputies arrest 12-year-old for allegedly threatening to shoot up middle school

A 12-year-old California boy was arrested Monday for allegedly threatening to shoot up a middle school. 

Deputies responded to a “suspicious circumstances call” Monday from Mesa Linda Middle School in Victorville, which is about 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles. 

The caller told deputies with the Victorville Police Department that several students had heard another student threatening to shoot up the school. 

Investigators identified the suspect as a 12-year-old male student. The student was located on campus and arrested, according to a press release from the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department. 

No firearms were at the school or in the possession of the suspect, the sheriff’s department said. Deputies executed a search warrant of the suspect’s home and located several rifles that were seized for safekeeping.

The suspect was arrested for criminal threats and booked at San Bernardino County Juvenile Hall. No further details were released. 

The arrest came the same day that three people — including the shooter — were killed in a shooting at a St. Louis, Missouri high school. The shooter was later identified as 19-year-old Orlando Harris, who graduated from the school last year.