California sophomore arrested over school shooting threats

[June 14, 2014]  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Police in California arrested a 15-year-old student for threatening to kill a classmate, shoot up their high school and then take his own life, authorities said on Friday.

Officers responded to a call about the teen threatening another youth just as thousands of people were arriving for a graduation ceremony on Thursday at the Adolfo Camarillo High School in Camarillo, west of Los Angeles.

"Deputies contacted the victim and his parent and learned that the suspect had also told the victim that he planned to shoot up the school and then take his own life," the Ventura County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

The teen was arrested without incident soon after at his home and admitted threatening the other student, although he said he had no intention of actually carrying it out.

The county's Children’s Intensive Response Team was called for an evaluation, the statement added, and the suspect was taken for additional mental health treatment.

The sheriff's office said the teen was cited for making criminal threats, and that weapons were removed from his residence and retained by the authorities for safekeeping.

(Reporting by Dana Feldman and Daniel Wallis; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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