SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A man convicted of sending an emailed threat to commit a mass shooting at Shoal Creek Elementary School in Carmel Mountain Ranch was sentenced Wednesday to two years in state prison, though he has already served enough time in custody to be paroled.
Lee Lor, 40, was found guilty by a jury of a single felony count of making criminal threats for an email he sent in December 2023 that prompted a police response at the campus and Lor's arrest later that day.
Prosecutors say the email was one of over 400 he sent over the course of several months stating he would commit a shooting at the school, which is located less than a mile from where Lor was living at the time.
The December 2023 email stated he was going "to commit mass shootings" at the school and listed the school's address.
Another email he sent stated, "I'm going to murder a bunch of children," while another read, "Children are going to die and parents can't do nothing about it. This will put a smile on my face."
None of the emails Lor wrote were sent directly to the school. Instead, Lor replied to random spam emails in his inbox with nearly identical threats to shoot up Shoal Creek. One of the emails he replied to on Dec. 1 landed in the spam folder of a woman in Beverly Hills, who alerted police.
The two-year sentence was the maximum term that could be imposed.
Superior Court Judge Theodore Weathers' sentence also included an order that state parole officials provide mental health and substance abuse treatment for Lor, which he said were "an important component of Mr. Lor's supervision and potential rehabilitation."
Weathers denied requests from Lor's defense attorney, Deputy Public Defender Lucas Hirsty, to reduce the conviction to a misdemeanor, allow Lor to participate in mental health or military diversion programs, or dismiss the conviction entirely.
Hirsty argued that since Lor would not face any more custodial time, a felony conviction would not accomplish anything further.
The attorney argued at trial that there was no serious intent behind the threats, which he said were triggered in part by trauma sustained during Lor's military service and the recent death of his father.
Lor did not make a statement during the sentencing hearing, but Hirsty said his client "wanted to express his condolences to Ms. Omoto and the school. He is not oblivious to the impact that receiving the communication could have or did have on the school."
Weathers said the felony conviction should stand due to the seriousness of Lor's actions.
"The defendant targeted one of the most vulnerable locations, where the most innocent of victims are attending school. In a place where children should feel safe, the defendant instilled a lasting fear in the principal, staff, students, parents, and the community by his threats," the judge said.
Shoal Creek's principal, Harmeena Omoto, testified during the trial that the threats prompted campus officials to raise the fences surrounding its playground areas. She also said she now stands at the school's front gates during on-campus events that are open to the public and personally checks each person attending the events to see if they have any connection with the school.
On Wednesday, she said she still does not feel safe on campus and remains on guard for "every unexpected noise, every car that slows down near the school, every stranger that approaches our office."
Omoto said, "The constant state of hypervigilance has replaced my peace of mind."
During the trial, Lor's attorney argued his client shouldn't be found guilty because the email was not sent directly to the school and did not specifically threaten Omoto, who is listed in a criminal complaint as the victim in Lor's case. Similar arguments led a judge to dismiss the criminal case against Lor last year, but prosecutors later refiled the criminal threats count.
The case was one of several cited by local lawmakers who authored Senate Bill 19, also known as The Safe Schools and Places of Worship Act, which was signed into law last month. The new law, which officials said closes a loophole that prevented prosecution against some people who threatened mass violence, criminalizes threats made against institutions such as schools, workplaces, medical facilities or houses of worship, even when the threat does not specifically target a person.
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