Sonoma County dad allegedly makes social media threat, leading to 2 school lockdowns: sheriff
Harmony Union School District. Photo courtesy Sonoma County Sheriff's Office.
OCCIDENTAL, Calif. - A student's father made a threat on social media, which led to the lockdown of two schools in Sonoma County on Monday, officials say. Now the father has been arrested.
What we know:
Harmony Elementary School and Salmon Creek Middle School, which share a campus located at 1935 Bohemian Highway in Occidental, were placed on lockdown by school officials at around 9:30 a.m., the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office said.
Officials did not elaborate on the nature of the threat. 220 students attend these schools.
The superintendent of the Harmony Union School District, Matthew Morgan, said school officials worked with Sonoma County's Office of Education and Sonoma County's Department of Emergency Management as well as the sheriff's office to successfully reunite students with their families by 1 p.m.
Morgan said in a statement that the schools will be in session on Tuesday.
The investigation into the threat is ongoing, Morgan said. Sheriff's department officials said the Violent Crimes Unit has taken over.
No injuries were reported during this incident.
In an update on social media, officials with the Sonoma Sheriff's Office said the suspect was found at around 3:30 p.m. on the 200 block of W Railroad Avenue in Penngrove, a community north of Petaluma.
The suspect's name, age, criminal charges and bail amount would be forthcoming in an updated post, officials said.
"The Sheriff's Office takes every school threat seriously and will always take appropriate action to ensure students and faculty are safe in our schools. We appreciate the quick response from school officials," a statement from the sheriff's office read.