LOS ANGELES _ Two people, including a student, have been arrested in connection with a serious threat against a South Los Angeles middle school, and an AR-15 assault rifle and a list of targeted students have been seized, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Friday.
The threat was made against Animo Mae Jemison Charter Middle School in Willowbrook, an independent charter school where Los Angeles School Police do not have a presence, Sheriff's Department spokesman Rudy Perez said.
Sheriff's officials provided few details about the investigation but said more information would be released at a midday news conference.
After responding to a call reporting the threat, deputies at the Sheriff Department's Century station served a search warrant at an undisclosed location. In addition to the weapon and target list, officials reportedly found a drawing of the school's layout and ammunition.
The arrest comes a week after police and witnesses said a 16-year-old boy opened fire on his classmates at Saugus High School, spreading panic throughout the Santa Clarita campus and surrounding neighborhoods. Two students died hours after the shooting in a nearby hospital. Three others were wounded. The gunman, Nathaniel Berhow, shot himself during the rampage and died the following day.
Officials said the gun used in the Saugus attack was a "ghost gun," assembled from parts and without a registration number. Sheriff's officials Friday said the AR-15 rifle seized in connection with the most recent threat was also a ghost gun.
The South L.A. threat is one of several school incidents reported across the state in the last few days. On Friday morning, police increased patrols around Charter Oak High School in Covina after a threat to the school.
In Visalia, a Redwood High School student was arrested Thursday after he allegedly threatened to shoot a classmate, according to the Visalia Times-Delta. Police found the threat was not credible and classes were held Friday.
