Teen, 14, facing charges after allegedly phoning in bogus threat against Elk Grove school

A teen is in juvenile custody after allegedly phoning in a threatened shooting against an Elk Grove middle school as a ploy to stay home from class.

Elk Grove police on Thursday arrested the 14-year-old. He faces a felony charge of making a criminal threat and was being held at Sacramento County juvenile hall, Elk Grove police said in a statement. The teen’s name is not being released because of his age, but police say he is a student at a nearby high school. Investigators say the teen acted alone.

Police alleged the teen called 911 to say Harriet Eddy Middle School would be the target of the shooting. The 14-year-old used someone’s else phone to call in the bogus threat and used another person’s name when he talked with emergency dispatchers, police said.

Elk Grove police urged parents to talk with their children about bogus threats and their consequences.

“We understand the concern and anxiety these types of threats create within our community. Please know threats are taken seriously and investigated to the fullest extent,” Elk Grove plice said in a statement. “Parents, use this as a chance to talk to your kids about the seriousness of making threats.”

The Thursday threat was the latest in a series of unfounded campus threats by youths in Northern California and nationwide in the weeks since a deadly shooting Sept. 4 at a Georgia high school.

The incidents include the recent arrests of a 14-year-old C.K. McClatchy High School student on suspicion of making criminal threats; a 15-year-old suspected of threats against schools in the Galt Unified School District ; and arrests in Lodi, Manteca, Modesto and in Newman, in Stanislaus County .