17-year-old Palo Alto High student arrested in connection with school shooting threat
PALO ALTO -- A 17-year-old boy was arrested by Palo Alto police Thursday in connection with a shelter-in-place order at Palo Alto High School that was the result of a note posted on a classroom door threatening a school shooting.
The incident happened Tuesday morning, according to police. That is when police dispatchers received a call just before 9 a.m. from administrators at the high school, located at 50 Embarcadero Rd., reporting a suspicious circumstance. A teacher had arrived at school that morning and discovered a note threatening violence taped to the front door of the classroom.
Police said the threat indicated that the person who left the note intended to "shoot up" the classroom later that morning. Police said a final exam was scheduled to take place that morning in that same classroom.
Police worked in close collaboration with school administrators, who opted to place the campus into a shelter-in-place status as a precaution until about 10:30 a.m., when the preliminary investigation concluded.
During the next two days, police officers and school administrators worked together to investigate the case in an attempt to identify the person responsible for the note. On Thursday afternoon, a 17-year-old boy -- a Palo Alto High School student -- was identified as a suspect.
Police officers arrested the boy for criminal threats, a felony, and released him to the custody of his parents.
Police said Thursday there is no evidence that the boy ever had access to a firearm. The boy's identity is not being released by police because he is a minor.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Palo Alto Police Department's 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be emailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.