Several Students Absent From Bella Vista High After Violent Threat Found In Bathroom

FAIR OAKS (CBS13) - Some parents of students at Bella Vista High School did not want to take any chances after a threat of violence was written on the wall of a bathroom over the weekend.

Police presence was very visible in front of the Fair Oaks school. According to a San Juan Unified School District statement, a student reported a message on Friday that read, "I'm shooting up the school on October 27th, make sure to be there." The message had a smiley face on the end.

Law enforcement personnel were called to the school and determined that nothing indicated it was a credible threat.

The school district said there's no need for alarm, and police presence will be at the school throughout the rest of the school day.

However, concerned parents called CBS13 this morning, saying they were keeping their kids home from school. We spoke to one mother who was leaving with her son after he was at the school a short while.

"If I were to leave him here, even though it as not a credible threat, and something happened to him, I couldn't live with myself. So…it's real upsetting," said Anna Jones, a parent.

The district and school say the lack of credibility of the threat written on a bathroom stall door with a marker are what led to their delay in getting the word out.

"It came in this morning at 5:30, and I sent out an email at 5:30 and then sent a phone call at 7:15 to let parents know what happened because, this morning, it was obvious that many parents who were becoming aware of the message. So, in hindsight, had I known it was going to spread like wildfire on social media, I would have done a call Friday night or Saturday. However, at that time, it was the best judgment in conjunction to law enforcement to not send the message," said Bella Vista High School principal Peggy Haskins.

We saw several parents picking up their children because of the message.

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