Three Modesto-area teens arrested in past week for threats against schools. The trend is national

Two more Modesto-area minors were arrested on suspicion of making separate threats against their school, following a flurry of threats and arrests across the country, the Modesto Police Department and Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday.

Last week and over the weekend, MPD said it received multiple reports of threats of violence toward schools in the area — most posted on social media.

“These social media posts were investigated, and although they appeared to be part of a statewide hoax or scam, the impact they had on our community was real, leaving students and their families fearful and scared,” read a statement from the Sheriff’s Office.

A Modesto High School student was arrested on suspicion of making threats against the campus — allegedly posting a picture of a firearm, along with a threat.

In a separate incident, a student at Hanshaw Middle School was arrested by MPD on Monday. He’s accused of making school shooting threats, which were allegedly overheard by other students and reported to their parents, who reported to MPD in turn.

MPD officers notified the school and learned the student in question did not arrive at school Monday. They went to the student’s home and arrested him there. Officers also arrested a man on suspicion of narcotics sales after allegedly finding evidence implicating him at the home. The narcotics arrest was said to be unrelated to the school shooting threat arrest.

“We take all threats of school violence seriously and will continue to investigate these threats to ensure the safety of our community,” read a statement from Sgt. Jose Meza, supervisor of MPD’s Threat Assessment Team.

Both the Modesto High student and the Hanshaw student were taken to juvenile hall and booked on various charges, according to MPD.

In a separate incident, a 14-year-old Newman boy was arrested Friday on suspicion of making threats to local schools in the Newman and Patterson areas.

The Sheriff’s Office released a public safety statement Tuesday about the recent local and nationwide threats of school violence that happened last week. The statement asked people to remain vigilant and report any threats or suspicious activity to law enforcement.

Law enforcement also asked residents to not spread unverified information on social media.

In the Sacramento area, the San Juan Unified School District said four of its schools were targeted on social media, The Sacramento Bee reported . Threats were made against Silverado Middle School, which resulted in the arrest of a 13-year-old boy. The Buckeye Union School District announced it had several schools mentioned in an online post. Rocklin Unified School District also was the subject of a threat made on TikTok. These incidents were reported by the Sacramento-based news agency KCRA.

These cases of threats were part of a trend that resulted in several arrests of minors across the United States following the deadly shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia. A flurry of threats against schools — some credible and some not — have happened since.