Rio Vista Elementary School was put under lockdown on Wednesday, February 8, as police in Cathedral City, California responded to a threat sent to students who attend James Workman Middle School.
Police later arrested two people, a 12-year-old boy, and a 39-year-old man, in connection with the threats.
The Cathedral Police Department said they received a 911 call from the James Workman Middle School administration at around 9 am on Wednesday about a threatening video sent by a student from off-campus to other students at the school.
The video showed two handguns.
According to Joan Boiko, Palm Springs Unified Spokesperson, school officials reported the disturbing video to law enforcement, but there was no threat at the school.
Responding officers interviewed school officials and determined that the student in the video was a 12-year-old boy who had not attended school that day, the Cathedral City Police Department said.
They learned that the boy was at a house on Verona Road and promptly got a search warrant for the home.
Because of the home’s proximity to the school, authorities requested that school officials place the school on lockdown as a safety precaution.
For about 20 minutes on Wednesday morning, the Rio Vista Elementary school remained on the lockdown.
Police officers went to the middle school student’s home and found him with his father in the house. They detained the 12-year-old and the 39-year-old man, identified as his dad, Roman Rodriguez.
A further search inside the home led to the discovery of three firearms, including the two handguns the boy had displayed in the video, which led to the lockdown and investigation.
According to Commander Jon Enos, police arrested the 12-year-old on suspicion of making criminal threats and took him to Indo Juvenile Hall.
Rodriguez was arrested on several suspicions, including felonies of possession of a gun, endangering a child, having an illegal rifle, and having unregistered guns. Police took him to a detention center in Indo.
The James Workman Middle School Principal sent parents a message informing them of the incident and assuring them that there was no danger in the school.
The police released a statement reminding parents to be mindful of their child’s activities on their phones and monitor their phones, social media activity, and gaming applications that have chat features.
The department also urged parents to regularly check the content on their children’s phones, such as videos and pictures.