Social media posts with BB gun spark panic at California junior high school

A social media post from a Fullerton junior high school student holding what appeared to be a handgun set off a chain of events Monday that led parents to panic, with 250 parents rushing to campus to pull out their kids.

By Tuesday, 228 of Nicolas Junior High’s 630 students were still staying home. And some 150 parents, many upset about what they said was inadequate notification from the school, showed up to a town hall meeting on campus, demanding answers — and changes.

Parents, and a couple of students, mistakenly thought there was a gunman at the school. Parents were getting texts Monday from their children that said, “There’s a shooter on campus.”

“It was very apocalyptic,” parent Maria Cardenas said, describing how some parents were running to school to grab their children.

One student said: “I felt safe in the beginning. But once I saw my friends leaving, I got scared.”

There wasn’t an active shooter; the student who sent the original social media post was still at home, where local police were questioning the student by 7:15 a.m.

By then, school officials realized “our school was safe,” principal Jose Varela told those who gathered for the town hall meeting Tuesday afternoon.

Varela said he understands the parents’ reactions.

“I would have freaked out, and I would have done the same thing,” Varela said.

In a presentation in the school’s auditorium, Varela gave a timeline of what happened.

Over the weekend, a Nicolas student posted on social media, posing with a gun along with “threatening” language.

That was followed by a second post, by someone unrelated to the school, who included a “PSA” — or public service announcement — that said the student pictured would be “shooting up the school,” Varela said. And unlike the first post, the second one specifically named Nicolas Junior High.

When Varela learned of this early Monday morning, he immediately contacted Fullerton Police Sgt. Eric Bridges, who serves as a liaison to the district’s junior high schools.

Bridges said he was at the student’s house with another officer within minutes. They determined that what appeared to be a firearm in the post was a BB gun.

Even though they established there was no threat to the school, numerous officers arrived on campus by 7:30 a.m., when teachers also were informed of a post on social media, said Varela. As the first bell rang, the principal made a statement over the intercom.

“We are aware of an inappropriate post,” Varela said he told them. “Fullerton police is taking care of the matter. Please understand that Nicolas is the safest place to be.”

Then the second post came out. And word spread like wildfire.

At 10:07 a.m., Bridges called Varela and confirmed the investigation was done. There was no direct threat to the school, he said.

Shortly after that, an email went out to parents in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.