PHOTO BY CARLA HAU Caption: On Monday, Aug. 22, a large part of the campus was empty. Many felt unsafe, and thus, did not attend school.
Shooting threat stirred rapid concern and response
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On Aug. 20 and 21, an Instagram post spurred widespread attention after an anonymous person claimed that they would bring a weapon to campus on the following Monday. The motive for the confession remains unknown.
The confession was posted on Aug. 20, by the now-deleted @sghs.confessions_ Instagram page. By the next day, it had circulated rapidly among students.
“I found out through my mutual friends on the Discord platform,” senior Maybrit Ortiz said, “[and] received numerous messages from those friends urging me to not attend school tomorrow.”
Without a way to confirm nor deny the threat, many were unsettled. Some made the decision to inform the school’s staff and/or the police regarding the situation.
“I went forward and advised my peers and friends who reached out to email the principal or call the police department,” Ortiz said. “After reaching out to the [police, I emailed] the principal and assistant principals to ensure the concern was raised.”
The abundance of emails from concerned students eventually caught the attention of staff. Principal Debbie Stone found out after receiving a message from a staff member.
“[After consulting] with the district,” Principal Stone said, “I was directed to contact [the] police.”
On Monday, Aug. 22, the Alhambra Police Department (APD) stationed officers to monitor the campus. Alhambra Unified School District also sent campus security for additional observation. Nonetheless, many students decided to stay home on Monday for safety reasons.
“So many people were absent,” junior Haley Nguyen said. “It was weird, seeing an empty campus with so many more supervisors walking around.”
The APD have conducted investigations and interviews into the nature of the post. Since their findings, a message has been sent out to the community via Blackboard.
“A juvenile was identified as having been responsible for posting the online threat,” the APD’s statement said. “The Alhambra Police Department’s investigation will be turned over to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for review.”
The threat was considered vague and uncredible by the APD Safety Alert. Nonetheless, some commemorated the response by students, staff, and police.
“I’m proud of how our community came together,” Stone said. “[Proud] of how people came together to ensure the safety of our students.”
