School threats: West Valley police departments make arrests in separate incidents

Two West Valley police departments say they have made arrests in connection with two separate incidents involving school shooting threats.

Buckeye

In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, Buckeye Police said the person they arrested, identified as a 12-year-old boy, allegedly made a voicemail on a phone that belonged to a former teacher at Desert Sunset Elementary School. Police received a report about the voicemail on Saturday, Sept. 21.

"In the voicemail, the caller threatened to ‘shoot up’ a classroom," read a portion of the brief statement. "The threat was found to be not credible."

The suspect was arrested on the night of Sept. 23 and is facing criminal charges.

Surprise

Surprise Police said they arrested a 14-year-old in connection with an incident that involved Valley Vista High School.

"Working in partnership with school staff and the School Resource Officer assigned to Valley Vista High School, police were able to take the student into custody without incident," read a portion of Surprise Police's statement. "The student was not armed and there is no threat to the school or the surrounding community."

Police said the 14-year-old "admitted to making the threats of violence," and is accused of making a terroristic threat and disorderly conduct. The student has been booked into the Durango Juvenile Detention Center.

"We thank the brave students who spoke up to protect their school," Surprise Police Chief Benny Piña wrote, in the statement. "We want to remind students, parents and community members that threats of violence toward our schools will not be tolerated."

This is not the first time in September that Valley Vista High School was targeted by a threat: on Nov. 9, Surprise Police took a 14-year-old into custody in connection with an alleged online threat.

"The student admitted to making threats of violence as a ‘dare,’" police said at the time.

School threats becoming a problem in recent weeks

In recent weeks, a number of schools in Arizona have dealt with school safety threats.

On Sept. 12, Buckeye Police announced the arrest of a 13-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy in connection with separate threats involving Bales Elementary School and Buckeye Union High School.

On Sept. 19, Mesa Police said 17 threats of violence were made within Mesa Public Schools. Six juveniles were reported to police, and officials said charges were filed against them.

On Sept. 20, a juvenile in the Prescott Valley area was arrested for their alleged role in a threat incident that involved Liberty Traditional School.

On Sept. 22, a girl in Buckeye was arrested in connection with a school threat that involved a school in Wisconsin.

We spoke with two high school students about school threats on Sept. 13, and they talked about the impact such incidents have on them.

"It’s overwhelming," said senior Miranda Miranda. "We don’t need this."

"I feel like at the end of the day, I'm always kind of thinking about it," said sophomore Eliana Conde-Guerrero. "I'm always kind of scared of the possibility, and the idea never really goes away.