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School security guard thwarts California student's shooting plot

JANFU

JANFU

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School security guard thwarts California student's shooting plot | TheHill

School district security officer Marino Chavez said that he heard a 17-year-old student at El Camino High School say he was going to “shoot up the school sometime in the next three weeks.” The school is located in Whittier, about 20 miles east of Los Angeles.

The school then reported the teen to authorities, who found two assault rifles in his home, including one that was unregistered, according to the AP.

The student was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats, and his brother, a 28-year-old Army veteran, was arrested on weapons charges related to the firearms.
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Is this just pure luck that he was overheard?
Was the kid going on a mass murder rampage?
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
Or was the kid talking out of his butt like many teenagers will?
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Could be, but is that not uttering threats to kill?
And an illegal weapon was also found.
 
Truckstop said:
Now do they take his guns and put him on the no buy list forever? What is the mechanism for disarming people due to second hand information about a conversation? I'm asking because I don't know.
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Neither do I. It was enough though for a seraph warrant which turned up an illegal weapon and confiscated all weapons.
Do I trust the SG, yep - his job to report what he hears.

Now it is off to the courts.
 
ludin said:
Unregistered rifle is a misdemeanor and i am not sure what CA punishment is for attempted murder charges probably 3rd degree felony
or conspiracy to commit murder.
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Thanks- some US laws/penalties I am familiar with, this one, not at all.
 
Free speech, no probable cause, give his guns back!




:D
 
JANFU said:
School security guard thwarts California student's shooting plot | TheHill


Is this just pure luck that he was overheard?
Was the kid going on a mass murder rampage?
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Sounds like the securityv guard heard the comment himself. Reporting it was 100% correct. What should happen after that is the kid should be pulled in and questioned. His associates should also be interviewed as should his teachers and parents. If the questioning shows that the threat was credible then the kid should be sent for an inpatient psych evaluation. If the consensus agreement is that the threat was just trash talking then no further action would be necessary aside from flagging the kid for additional observation.
 
Lutherf said:
Sounds like the securityv guard heard the comment himself. Reporting it was 100% correct. What should happen after that is the kid should be pulled in and questioned. His associates should also be interviewed as should his teachers and parents. If the questioning shows that the threat was credible then the kid should be sent for an inpatient psych evaluation. If the consensus agreement is that the threat was just trash talking then no further action would be necessary aside from flagging the kid for additional observation.
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Agreed but investigated, including any issues with the Police/ disciplinary problems.
 
JANFU said:
Agreed but investigated, including any issues with the Police/ disciplinary problems.
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Absolutely. The threat alone is probable cause to investigate his social media, his personal computer, his phone and to interview the people he associates with. It's not a joke and the more kids that find out such threats are taken seriously the less we'll see of them. Perhaps we'll even see kids report stuff earlier when they know that these threats will be taken seriously.
 
Lutherf said:
Absolutely. The threat alone is probable cause to investigate his social media, his personal computer, his phone and to interview the people he associates with. It's not a joke and the more kids that find out such threats are taken seriously the less we'll see of them. Perhaps we'll even see kids report stuff earlier when they know that these threats will be taken seriously.
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Brother I am with you on this. It also sends a clear message.
 
holbritter said:
At least authorities did what they should. Good for the guard reporting him.
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Hate to say this but pure luck
On a side note- after I retired from the Military, worked overseas, Bosnia-Croatia for 3 years.
Still lived on the same block- knew my neighbors, some by name others by faces and good mornings and such.
When I came back to work in Canada, looking for a peaceful job. Sort of found it as a Security Guard.
1 day later afternoon, stopped at the nearby grocery store to pick some things up.
In a line up, saw some neighbors and they were looking right at me. Never saw me.
The lesson that I came away with was they saw the wannbe cop uniform, never looked at the face as they never said anything. Yet I had interactions with many on a regular basis
They saw the SG uniform, and everything else was blacked out. Sad but true, far to many people look at what one does, and judge, ignore or interact accordingly.
I also lived in a middle class to upper MC area.
 
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JANFU said:
Could be, but is that not uttering threats to kill?
And an illegal weapon was also found.
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How many people could honestly answer they never said in jest or anger they were going to kill someone
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
How many people could honestly answer they never said in jest or anger they were going to kill someone
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Few to none except he stated he was going to shoot up the school, and they found an illegal weapon. They acted correctly.
 
Lutherf said:
Absolutely. The threat alone is probable cause to investigate his social media, his personal computer, his phone and to interview the people he associates with. It's not a joke and the more kids that find out such threats are taken seriously the less we'll see of them. Perhaps we'll even see kids report stuff earlier when they know that these threats will be taken seriously.
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That is an excellent idea Luther....Nothing travels faster than word of mouth in a HS....
 
Lutherf said:
Sounds like the securityv guard heard the comment himself. Reporting it was 100% correct. What should happen after that is the kid should be pulled in and questioned. His associates should also be interviewed as should his teachers and parents. If the questioning shows that the threat was credible then the kid should be sent for an inpatient psych evaluation. If the consensus agreement is that the threat was just trash talking then no further action would be necessary aside from flagging the kid for additional observation.
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Which is probably all happening now that the threat has been removed.
 
Lutherf said:
Absolutely. The threat alone is probable cause to investigate his social media, his personal computer, his phone and to interview the people he associates with. It's not a joke and the more kids that find out such threats are taken seriously the less we'll see of them. Perhaps we'll even see kids report stuff earlier when they know that these threats will be taken seriously.
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Hear, hear.
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
How many people could honestly answer they never said in jest or anger they were going to kill someone
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Well I guess everyone is going to have to learn not to do that any more. Times are changing, gotta keep up or be left behind.

BTW...I've never said in anger or jest, that I wanted to shoot up my school.
 
JANFU said:
Hate to say this but pure luck
On a side note- after I retired from the Military, worked overseas, Bosnia-Croatia for 3 years.
Still lived on the same block- knew my neighbors, some by name others by faces and good mornings and such.
When I came back to work in Canada, looking for a peaceful job. Sort of found it as a Security Guard.
1 day later afternoon, stopped at the nearby grocery store to pick some things up.
In a line up, saw some neighbors and they were looking right at me. Never saw me.
The lesson that I came away with was they saw the wannbe cop uniform, never looked at the face as they never said anything. Yet I had interactions with many on a regular basis
They saw the SG uniform, and everything else was blacked out. Sad but true, far to many people look at what one does, and judge, ignore or interact accordingly.
I also lived in a middle class to upper MC area.
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As Lefty Gomez is reported to have said...

I'd rather be lucky, than good.
 
Yes, most comments like that are in jest. Lots of teenagers enjoy dark humor. Some of the jokes my best friend and I used to tell each other in high school were very violent. We used to take turns writing short fiction that in today’s environment would not go over well.

But times change and if you are going to engage in that kind of humor today it is a risk. The security guard did the right thing. It is his job to report potential threats, not to asses the validity.
 
holbritter said:
Well I guess everyone is going to have to learn not to do that any more. Times are changing, gotta keep up or be left behind.

BTW...I've never said in anger or jest, that I wanted to shoot up my school.
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I get the feeling that this movement started after the Florida massacre has legs, and I mean politically.
 
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