POWAY, Calif. (CNS) - A student accused of making threats at a middle school in Poway was detained Wednesday by San Diego County Sheriff's Office deputies.
Administrators at Meadowbrook Middle School contacted the San Diego County Sheriff's Office on Sunday regarding an email that was sent to the school's staff, which included someone issuing threats to commit acts of violence at the school the following day, authorities said.
Poway Sheriff's Station deputies were sent to the middle school on Monday and remained on campus the entire day out of an abundance of caution while the investigation continued, the department said.
The threat turned out to be unfounded and on Tuesday, just before 7 a.m., the school's staff members received another email, stating that a bomb had been placed on campus. School administrators immediately contacted the sheriff's office and within minutes, deputies arrived at the middle school and began searching the campus for any suspicious objects. Administrators quickly placed the school on lockdown while deputies turned away students who had not arrived on campus.
Deputies with the sheriff's K-9 Unit as well as agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded with Explosives Detection K-9s and searched the campus. After an extensive search, no explosives were found, authorities said. The lockdown was lifted and the school returned to its normal schedule.
Later that evening, the sheriff's office was contacted by several parents who saw a video on social media related to the threats at the middle school. During the investigation, deputies identified a student from the school who was linked to the social media account that distributed the video.
On Wednesday, deputies contacted the student at school and detained them for making criminal threats, according to the sheriff's office. Detectives later served a search warrant at the student's home and evidence collected indicated the student created the video alone.
There are no outstanding suspects.
There is no threat to Meadowbrook students or staff members.
It is the policy of the sheriff's office not to release information about minors. The investigation is ongoing.
The San Diego County Sheriff's office and local school districts take every threat seriously and want to remind students that if they hear any threats of violence or even potential violence, they can always approach school resource deputies. They can also call the anonymous Crime Stoppers Student Speaking Out Tip Line at 888 580-8477 or the sheriff's office at 858 868-3200.
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