A high school student and the student’s father have been arrested after the youth was accused of making threats of a shooting at Rancho Bernardo High School, San Diego police said Tuesday.
The student was booked into Juvenile Hall on Friday on suspicion of making a school shooting threat, police spokesman Lt. Daniel Meyer said. Authorities also obtained a temporary gun violence restraining order against the student, which allowed police to seize firearms the teen had access to.
A search of the family’s home turned up ghost guns, other assault weapons and “several destructive devices,” Meyer said.
The father, identified by police as Neal Anders, was booked into jail early Tuesday on suspicion of several weapons charges, including possession of an assault weapon. Anders, 45, is being held in lieu of $300,000 bail and is slated to be arraigned Thursday in San Diego Superior Court.
The alleged threat came to light Friday afternoon when students told school administrators that a fellow student “had shown them concerning videos and made concerning statements against the school,” said Christine Paik, spokesperson for Poway Unified School District. Rancho Bernardo High is a part of the district.
“Our school administration immediately contacted the school resource officer, and that triggered the investigation,” she said.
School was not in session Monday because staffers were taking part in a previously planned training session all day. Tuesday was the first day students were back on campus since the report, and San Diego police had extra patrols on hand at the school.
“I want to commend the students who acted responsibly by reporting what they heard. Please use this opportunity to remind your children, if they see something, say something,” Rancho Bernardo High Principal Hans Becker said in a message to parents over the weekend.
