A man threatened an employee in person at the shared campus housing Hercules Middle School and Hercules High School, prompting a lockdown. Police searched the vicinity.
According to the Hercules Police Department, officers responded to the incident.
Police searched the vicinity. The campus at 1900 Refugio Valley Road houses both schools on one shared site within the West Contra Costa Unified School District, according to Wikipedia.
Police Search Vicinity
Police searched the vicinity, and the campus was locked down.
During emergencies, parents and guardians should follow instructions from law enforcement and school officials, keep school entrances and surrounding roadways clear, and avoid gathering near areas where emergency personnel are responding.
Legal Exposure If a Suspect Is Identified
Depending on what investigators determine about the caller's identity and intent, several California statutes could come into play. Directly threatening a public school teacher or administrator to interfere with their duties falls under Penal Code Section 71, a wobbler offense that can bring up to a year in county jail as a misdemeanor or up to three years in state prison and a $10,000 fine as a felony, according to Eisner Gorin LLP. A false report of this kind can also be prosecuted as a hoax emergency threat under Penal Code Section 148.3, which carries up to a year in jail as a misdemeanor and allows restitution for emergency-response costs, escalating to a felony if the incident causes great bodily injury or death, per Rubin Law, P.C.
A felony conviction under Penal Code Section 422 counts as a strike under California's Three Strikes Law, according to Justia Law.
Earlier Threat at Hercules High School
In October 2015, a 15-year-old student was arrested at Hercules High School after threatening to shoot up the school. Documents found at the student's home supported the student's intention, according to CBS News.
