CHS students return to school following shooting threat

It’s the first day of school for students at the Calexico Unified School District, but it was a mix of emotions for parents and students at Calexico High School (CHS).

That’s because police said a student was arrested over the weekend for making online threats about a school shooting.

“With the threats, I’m like are we safe, but at least there’s a lot of police that I’ve seen on campus,” said high school Senior Olivia Acosta.

On Saturday night, the Calexico Police Department (CPD) was notified of a threat made online, allegedly by a 16-year-old CHS student.

“First he said something about, there should be a school shooting. After someone said that the closed campus had passed, he said he was going to buy a gun,” said CPD Chief Gonzalo Gerardo,

Police said the student who made the threat was upset over the high school’s new closed campus lunch policy. He is now facing charges for criminal threats.

Chief Gerardo says they aren’t taking any threats lightly.

“He was brought in yesterday, and we did take him to juvenile hall for making those threats against Calexico High School,” said Chief Gerardo.

Although the student was arrested, parents we spoke to today were nervous about sending their kids to school.

“Truthfully I’m worried with everything that’s happening but let’s hope there’s more security,” said CHS parent, Rosangel Espinoza.

“We are here, and I will have more people working. We’re paying overtime to have more people work. The thing is that they should feel safe like anywhere else,” said Chief Gerardo.

This school year the Calexico Unified School District will increase the budget for extra security at Calexico High School.