Angry parents at Sequoia Middle School in Pleasant Hill are circulating an online petition to have an eighth-grade student removed for allegedly threatening a mass shooting at his former school in the same district earlier this year.
As of Saturday morning, the Sequoia parents' petition at ThePetitionSite.com has garnered 1,298 supporters.
The boy, whose name has not been released, was arrested in June for allegedly telling a friend on Snapchat of his plan to kill "at least 30 people" on the last day of school at Valley View Middle School, also in Pleasant Hill, Pleasant Hill police Sgt. Ron Priebe said.
After the friend reported the alleged threat to police, officers served a search warrant at the boy's Martinez home, seizing several guns legally owned by someone in the household. The boy was 13 at the time of the arrest, Priebe said.
The boy was taken to Contra Costa County Juvenile Hall and booked on suspicion of making terrorist threats, but he was never charged by the district attorney and later released, Priebe confirmed. The boy is now attending Sequoia Middle School.
Sequoia parent Kim Childers initiated the petition Tuesday, which reads in part, "This past June, a student from Martinez was arrested for threatening to shoot 30 students at his school ... This same student now has two classes with my child. I am asking everyone to ... have this student removed from SMS and any school in the MDUSD (Mount Diablo Unified School District)."
Childers could not be reached for comment Friday.
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Sequoia Principal Kevin Honey sent a letter home to parents Tuesday, indicating that disciplinary policies were followed at the time of the alleged threat and arrest. Honey was not immediately available for comment today.
One petitioner wrote, however, that the principal's letter was "misleading" and that Honey is "clearly in the dark" about the student's state of mind.
Other parents are keeping their children out of school for now.
"My son will not be at SMS until the district removes this student!" another petitioner wrote. "I cannot send my child to school with a kid who, less than three months ago, claimed he was going to kill 30 of his classmates. That requires therapy, counseling and treatment for much longer than just summer break."
