A Montebello high school student was arrested after posting a threat against his principal to social media in an attempt to stay home from school Tuesday, officers said.
The parent of another Vail High School student spotted the threat on Snapchat and brought it to the school’s attention, Montebello police said in a news release.
Detectives responded to the continuation school at 1230 S. Vail Ave. and interviewed the 16-year-old suspect.
The boy ultimately admitted responsibility for the posting, and said he’d hoped spreading the threat on social media would mean he wouldn’t have to go to school, according to investigators.
The student, a Los Angeles resident, was arrested on suspicion of making a criminal threat against the principal.
The news comes a day after Montebello police investigated a separate Snapchat post warning Schurr High School students that a shooting may occur on campus Tuesday.
In that case, detectives say they investigated several leads and found no credible threat. Still, police planned to increase patrols at the city’s high schools Tuesday.
Also Monday, Whittier Christian High School in La Habra canceled classes after a shooting threat was posted to social media. That threat was also later determined to be fake.
The series of false warnings comes on the heels of the Saugus High School shooting, in which a gunman killed two classmates then himself on his 16th birthday. Three other students were wounded.
On Sunday, L.A. County sheriff’s officials said they’d investigated multiple bogus threats against Santa Clarita schools. The Saugus High campus will remain closed until Dec. 2, but students were allowed to return to campus Tuesday to retrieve belongings.
