Ventura County school threats go viral
Information about school violence was spread online by parents creating a lot of concern and confusion. Police intended that information only for the local authorities and school districts.
It started with a flyer sent by Santa Paula Police to the local school district. It’s called a Safety Bulletin and it was never intended to be shared with members of the public, but when it went public it also went viral.
Santa Paula police sent a school safety bulletin to the administration of the Santa Paula School District. It centers around a young man who told his therapist he was depressed and had a fascination with school shootings. The man mentioned schools in Ventura, and about killing himself after a shooting (it’s standard for a therapist to alert local police when a situation like this occurs).
Over the weekend the young man was checked out by Ventura County Sheriff’s deputies who say they took weapons from his home, but he was not found to be a credible threat.
He was checked again on Monday by Ventura Police, and again authorities did not find him to be a threat.
Somehow the information from the Santa Paula Police to the school district was shared online and then it went viral.
It is the protocol for law enforcement to share any potential threat with school administrators, but in this case, even though investigators found no threat, once it became public it created a lot of concern across the region.
NewsChannel 3 has decided not to show the photo or name the person on the flyer as police have determined the person is not a threat and they say it is safe to send kids to school.
