12-year-old boy arrested over threat to shoot teacher and 23 students

A 12-year-old California boy was arrested after allegedly emailing a threat to shoot a teacher and 23 of his middle-school classmates.

KFMB-TV reported on Sunday that authorities took the boy into custody on Saturday and referred him to a hospital for evaluation.

The suspect, a seventh-grader at Twin Peaks Middle School in Poway, California, allegedly threatened to attack the school on Monday, saying he had 3,000 rounds of ammunition. The San Diego County District Attorney's Office will also evaluate the case, as the boy faces possible felony charges.

"Obviously this situation is both saddening and disturbing," Poway Unified School District superintendent John Collins told U-T San Diego. "However, it is critical that all touched by this threat understand that the system worked. An anonymous threat was made. He was identified and with multiple agencies working together, the threat was averted."

San Diego County Sheriff's officials said on Sunday that they recovered three handguns, three shotguns, five rifles and several computers from the boy's home after executing a search warrant. The weapons belonged to his father, who reportedly cooperated with the search.

"At the time we searched the search warrant, all the weapons were locked up," said Sheriff's Capt. Bill Donahue. "We are told that the student did not have access to the weapons."

While school officials vowed to carry on in the wake of the incident, one unidentified parent told the station she was being extra careful.

"My child's not going to school [on Monday]," said the parent, whose daughter attends Twin Peaks. "We're just gonna evaluate it."

Watch KFMB's report on the threat against the school, aired Sunday, below.

[Image via Shutterstock]