Samo community shaken by school shooter threat
Matilde Martinez-Navarrete, Staff Writer
The morning of Dec. 6, Samo students were greeted at school with police cars lined up at Michigan and 7th, fewer classmates than normal in their first and second periods and the announcement of a potential threat on campus. The previous night, a Samo student posted a picture on Snapchat showing three guns on top of a pizza box and threatening violence using the phrase, “I’m done talking to you…” followed by a racial slur.
At 7 a.m., Principal Antonio Shelton was notified of the potential danger to the school and called the Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD), who apprehended the student before they entered the campus. The SMPD searched the student’s person, house and car and did not find the guns pictured in the Snapchat story or any other weapons.
“The Santa Monica Police Department met with me, the parents and the student to conduct an investigation regarding the threatening photo. The family was cooperative and the residence and car of the student have been searched. The student has been removed from campus and the appropriate disciplinary measures have been taken,” Shelton said in the Dec. 6 morning announcement.
The school day continued as scheduled because the SMPD determined that the student did not pose a threat to the Samo community, but many students were already gone by the time that was announced in the homeroom period. Additional rumors about a second shooter circulated, leading even more students to leave early.
“I just figured that it wasn’t worth the risk, even if that risk was small… I’d heard some rumors about there being more than one [shooter], nothing too clear, but it seemed like there was a threat in the morning. Then that went away, and the fear began to reignite at lunch and that was kind of the final straw in my decision to go,” Miles Tobel (’22) said.
This was not the only threat posed that day in the area. Additional social media messages threatening gun violence also frightened students at Palisades Charter High School, St. Monica’s High School, Hamilton High School, Fairfax High School and Hollywood High School. The threats to these neighboring schools were also deemed not credible, leading many to believe they were “copycat threats” following the Nov. 30 Oxford High School shooting in Oxford, Michigan. The Oxford shooting left seven injured and four killed, making it the deadliest school shooting since 2018.
These incidents coincide with a recent rise in gun violence in schools. According to the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety, dedicated to tracking and recording data about school shootings, there have been 144 cases of gunfire on school grounds in 2021. This is the highest number since Everytown began tracking the information in 2013, with records showing the number of incidents — temporarily stunted by the disrupted 2020 school year — increasing every year.
Nonetheless, the threats to the schools surrounding Samo were quickly resolved. The SMPD shared a press release later in the day of Dec. 6, explaining that the threat presented to St. Monica’s was actually not directed to the school.
“During the course of their investigation of the St. Monica’s incident, our officers determined the threatening message originated and was aimed at Elk Grove High School, a school in Northern
California,” the SMPD press release said.
The false St. Monica’s threat and compounding rumors of violence sparked additional fear at Samo after the original scare, causing many students to leave school before lunch. Shelton again assured students the next day that the danger had been judged to be false and encouraged students to not engage in the spreading of these rumors.
Moving past the incident, the matter of talk has circulated to the Samo student’s deserved penalty.
“Yeah, they should be held accountable for attempting to put students in danger and thinking it funny to post it on Snapchat too. I don’t know what legal punishment is fair for a teenager, depending on age, so I guess they should get what they deserve based on what they did,” an anonymous student said.
School officials are restricted by law from revealing details about a student’s discipline record.
Concerns were also raised about the fact that nothing was said to Samo students about the potential danger before they had arrived at school.
“The parents should have been notified PRIOR to a text notification after the threat was neutralized… In the future, proactive transparent communication should be given to the parents and students so that we can make an informed choice as to whether we feel comfortable and safe sending our kids to school,” Samo parent Dorian Beach said in a letter to district staff.
Nonetheless, Shelton praised the SMPD’s and Samo’s faculty for responding rapidly to the task.
“I would like to thank our quick responding staff, along with SMPD, who responded swiftly and appropriately to this incident,” Shelton said.
Pete Barraza’s AP Lit class usually has 35 students in attendance. On Monday., only seven students attended the afternoon class.