SOUTH LOS ANGELES, CA — Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department deputies in the Willowbrook area area Friday thwarted a 13-year-old would-be school shooter who was well armed and had detailed plans to commit mass murder on campus, according to police.
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Deputies arrested an Animo Mae Jemison Charter Middle School student who allegedly threatened to shoot classmates and school staff. After serving a search warrant at the student’s home, police found an AR-15 rifle, 100 round of ammunition, a list of intended victims and a drawing of the school layout, according to Undersheriff Tim Murakami. The arrest occurred as school districts across Los Angeles contended with shooting threats in the aftermath of last week’s Santa Clarita tragedy.
The unidentified student allegedly made threatening remarks on campus Thursday, suggesting a shooting would be carried out Friday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said.
After identifying the student, detectives served a search warrant at his family’s home and found a “rifle with a high-capacity magazine” and a “rudimentary hand-drawn map of the school as well as a list containing names of both students and staff members of the school.”
The student was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats. Sheriff’s officials said a 19-year-old man, who is a relative of the student, was also arrested on suspicion of possessing an unregistered firearm. He was being held in lieu of $35,000 bail, but his name was not immediately released.
“Multiple students overheard the school threat on campus and teachers emailed the administration about concerns raised by the students,” Villanueva said. “School officials contacted the sheriff’s department immediately.”
“With all incidents like these, we ask all Los Angeles County residents that if they see or hear something to say something,” Villanueva said. “In this case, the fact that people stepped forward to say what they had heard led us to be able to prevent a tragedy today.”
Green Dot Public Schools, which operates the charter campus, issued a statement saying it has “processes in place that allow our students to say something if they observe threats or have safety concerns.”
“Yesterday, our staff was notified by students of a threat, and we moved quickly to ensure that no harm came to our students,” according to Green Dot. “Our students did everything right by raising concerns with adults. We are in close contact with law enforcement and have been informed that there is no longer a safety concern. We are deeply thankful for the partnership and quick response from law enforcement around this incident.”
According to Murakami, the AR-15 was a “ghost rifle,” an untraceable gun made with parts the student had allegedly purchased on the internet along with silencers, body armor and large quantity of ammunition. At a press conference Friday, Villanueva said the weapon found in the home is unregistered but it does have a serial number.
It’s been less than a week since there was a school shooting in Los Angeles County. A boy who turned 16 last week brought a ghost gun to Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, where he opened fire on classmates, hitting five, and killing two before turning the gun on himself.
Ghost guns, gun parts purchased online or at gun shows in easy-to assemble kits, have no serial numbers so they don’t need to be registered. Buyers also don’t have to undergo background checks, which is why the ghost guns are increasingly the weapon of choice for people with criminal backgrounds and gang affiliations.
“About a third of all firearms seized in Southern California now are unserialized, and that is expected to grow,” Ginger Colbrun, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles region’s ATF office, told the Los Angeles Times.
In recent years, they have been used in at least two mass murders in LA County.
In the aftermath of the Saugus tragedy, school police across the region have been dealing with a spike in school shooting threats. A number of threats have targeted various campuses in the past week. Covina police beefed up staffing Friday at Charter Oak High School in response to a possible threat targeting that school. Sheriff’s deputies in Palmdale, meanwhile, said they arrested a student late Thursday for allegedly posting online threats targeting Pete Knight High School.
Late Friday morning, Pasadena police went to La Salle High School after a smartphone notification app mistakenly circulated unfounded information of an active shooter on campus, said Lisa Derderian of the city of Pasadena. Officers searched the campus but found no shooter, Derderian said.
SEE ALSO: ‘Ghost Gun’ Used in Saugus School Shooting A Growing Threat In LA
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CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misidentified the area where the student was arrested.
City News Service contributed to this report.