Hacienda Heights high school student arrested in online threats
Warnings of a shooting at Glen A. Wilson High were posted on the Wikipedia entry for the school district. The minor student reportedly confessed but officials did not disclose a possible motive.
Authorities arrested a male high school student this morning in connection with Internet threats that led officials to shut down Glen A. Wilson High School in Hacienda Heights today.
The minor student, whose name was not released, was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats, a felony. Sheriff's officials said he has confessed to making the threats but they did not disclose any possible motivation.
The threats "did not specify Columbine or any other schools recently involved in attacks," said sheriff's Lt. Jaime Baltazar at a morning news conference at the school district's headquarters in City of Industry.
The incident began Wednesday evening when Los Angeles County sheriff's officials notified Hacienda La Puente Unified School District police that a threat against students at Wilson High had been posted on the district's Wikipedia entry.
The entry read: "This is a warning. Do not remove this from this page. On Friday, April 18, 2008, there will be a shooting at this school. Current list of victims to be shot on this day: . . ." followed by names.
As school police contacted the students named in the threat to try to determine who had posted it, a second threat was posted, said district Supt. Barbara Nakaoka in statement she read at a news conference this morning.
That threat read: "You removed my last edit. I gave you a fair warning. Now the people listed in my previous edit will be victims in the Glen A. Wilson Shooting to occur this Friday. Your lack of attention to the seriousness of my warning will now be the reason as to why you will receive all fault of this event. Be prepared to have 33 families mourn the loss of their children and place a lawsuit upon your shoulders."
The text of both threats printed out by a Wilson High parent, who gave a copy to a KTLA reporter.
School authorities contacted Wikipedia officials to ask that the threats be removed from the website.
Al Vasquez, chief of school district's Department of Police and Safety, said this afternoon that the threats were still viewable through the site's archives as recently as this morning.
"If I had not thought it was credible we would not have closed the school. I mean, not one but two threats," said Vasquez.
School police decided to close Wilson High School after stepping up security at the school on Thursday, including added searches of students' bags as they arrived for classes.
Late Thursday, school officials canceled classes for today as well as weekend activities at the school "due to the specificity of the threat," according to a statement sent home with students and signed by Vasquez.Vasquez said more information about the arrest and the threats will be disclosed this afternoon at another news conference scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at the district's headquarters in City of Industry. The school will be open for classes on Monday, he said.
molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com
