Santa Maria police say they investigated an apparent social media threat about a shooting at Tommie Kunst Junior High School.
A post circulating on social media appears to be written by a student who says he or she plans to “shoot up the school.”
Police say they’ve been in contact with the person involved and investigators say “there is no known threat to the school.”
The Santa Maria-Bonita School District notified parents on Friday via phone message, text, and email.
The message from the school’s principal said, “This morning, administrators at the school learned that a student had recently made threats on social media to perform an act of violence at our school. We immediately contacted the School Resource Officer from Santa Maria Police Department. Officers immediately came to the school to interview students. A student was identified as making the threat. Officers then went to the student’s home to further interview the student and the family as well as to determine if the student has access to any weapons. The police officers determined that the threat was unfounded. Making threats of any kind is a serious matter, and the student will not be returning to Tommie Kunst this school year. The safety of our students and staff is our school’s number one priority. We understand that many people are concerned. I want to assure our students, parents, and staff that we take this situation seriously. There will be additional district staff as well as law enforcement personnel at Tommie Kunst over the next few days. By working together, we can continue to make sure TK is a safe place for everyone. Please contact myself or another administrator if you have any questions.”
