Student arrested in Riverside County for alleged criminal threats – Daily Bulletin

A Riverside County high school student was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats against other students on social media, police said.

On Wednesday, a Riverside Police School Resource Officer assigned to Ramona High School began investigating a report of possible threats made by a student toward other students via social media. Officials said the officer discovered that a group of female students participated in a group chat on Instagram in which one of them shared a photo of guns along with a message implying violence toward a classmate.

A 15-year-old girl was arrested and booked into a Riverside County juvenile detention center on suspicion of making criminal threats. The photo shared by the student originally came from a post in Indiana, according to Riverside police spokesman Ryan Railsback.

Enough evidence was gathered to obtain a search warrant for her family home, where it was “determined that she does not have access to firearms,” ​​a police spokesperson said. Railsback said a “school threat assessment and response protocol” was followed to ensure there was no immediate danger to Ramona High School students or staff.

This incident is the third arrest of a minor in Riverside County in the last two weeks in cases where a minor has been arrested in connection with allegations of threatening behavior against students.

Railsback said the threats on school campuses across the country come at a time when school shootings are becoming too common.[There is] “There is simply too much violence in schools in our country, especially recently, for us to deal with it any other way,” he said.

As of September 4, there were 139 shootings on school campuses in 2024, according to the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund. The nonprofit began tracking gun violence in schools across the United States in 2013.

If you see a post on social media or online that threatens violence against a specific person or school, report it by calling the City of Riverside Public Safety Communications Center's non-emergency number at (951) 354-2007.