UPDATE: Court documents reveal identity of 17-year-old arrested in California High School threat

UPDATE 6:09 P.M.: California Police Chief Michael Ward commented on what charges the 14-year-old could be facing. “He will probably receive similar charges as the 17-year-old. We are looking at second-degree terroristic acts, terroristic threats, so it’ll be similar to the 17-year-old,” said Ward.

When asked about what disciplinary actions the 14-year-old could receive at school, Superintendent Dwight Sanders said, “It could be up to 365 days or permanent expulsion. You know, probably as a 14-year-old, we definitely don’t want to close the book on his opportunity to get an education, but at the same time it’s a serious matter and it needs to be handled seriously.”

UPDATE 1:40 P.M.: Court documents have revealed the identity of the 17-year-old arrested.

According to the affidavit, Jose Gutierrez expressed an implied threat to cause an incident at California High School on Monday.

Gutierrez was accused of advising a student to not go to school on Monday while gesturing like he was grabbing the handle of the gun tucked into the waistband of his pants.

Gutierrez has been charged with making a terroristic threat in the second degree.

ORIGINAL STORY: Two teens were taken into custody Saturday night after the California Police Department received a report of a threat mentioning California High School, according to a letter sent by the district’s superintendent.

The letter reads:

“I am writing today to make you aware of a series of events that occurred over the weekend. My intent is to provide accurate information to alleviate concerns and to dispel rumors.

On Saturday night just before 10 p.m., a representative from the California Police Department made contact with the district to communicate that they were conducting an investigation of a reported threat mentioning California High School. With collaboration from the district, the police department continued to investigate this report and identified two California residents who were involved in the threat–one being a 17 year old male who is not a student and the other a 14 year old male freshman student. At this time, both individuals are in police custody. The 17 year old has been arrested and charged with 2nd Degree Making a Terrorist Threat. The 14 year old has been placed in a juvenile detention facility. The school district is taking appropriate disciplinary action with regard to the 14 year old student. Additional information will be released later today from the California Police Department in regard to this matter. The California Police Department has conducted a thorough investigation and believes there to be no threat to students or staff at this time. There is and will continue to be an increased police presence at our schools today.

Please know that the safety of our students and staff is always our number one priority. We take situations such as this very seriously and will administer tough disciplinary consequences swiftly for such incidents. We are grateful to our police departments for their continual vigilance in keeping our schools safe and are thankful that individuals in our community continue to do the right thing and report anything that they become aware of that makes them feel unsafe in anyway. Please continue to report information that appears to put our children in jeopardy so that we can continue to provide safe schools for our children.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out should you have questions or concerns.”