Wave of school threats in LC leads to lockdowns and wasted police resources

Law enforcement and school district officials in Las Cruces say a recent wave of school threats resulted in a waste of time and resources.

“Everybody’s scared,” said Jace Morales, a Las Cruces High student. “A couple people were crying.”

Las Cruces High has experienced 24 hours of chaos, including an evacuation, a lockdown and the arrest of a student accused of posting a threat on social media.

“What we’re seeing is wasted resources and a lot of wasted school time because schools are being placed on lockdown or whatever the case may be,” said Las Cruces Police Department Spokesman Dan Trujillo.

Thursday, the campus with nearly 1,700 students was placed on lockdown, with students barricaded in their classrooms. The lockdown was eventually lifted about half an hour later, students told ABC-7.

“It was terrifying,” said Jataun Peterson, another Las Cruces High student.

A day earlier, 18-year-old Ernest Padilla was arrested after he allegedly posed with a rifle on Snapchat with the caption ‘school shooter.’ Police said they found brass knuckles and a butterfly knife in Padilla’s possession.

Thursday, you could see parent after parent take their kids out of school.

“He texted me and called me saying he was scared,” said Sarah Lee.

The mother told ABC-7 one of her sons stayed home and another had to choose between taking a math test and staying safe.

“I really was probably just going to want to fail that math test, but I just went in – just because – just to get the grade,” said Lee’s son, Jayce Morales.

Peterson told ABC-7 students should feel safe at school: “It’s somewhere that we go to get an education. No one’s really supposed to go to school fearing for their lives. It’s not what you expect.”

The district and the police department are urging students and parents to be cautious, but prudent when it comes to sharing threats posted on social media.

“(The threats) spread so quickly, and you have a lot of false or misleading posts,” said Las Cruces Public Schools Spokesman Paul Dahlgren. “So, it’s important to remember that when dealing with school campuses. We’ll always post that information to our website.”

“Do not share or repost these social media posts. If parents have a concern, they should call the police directly and give them the information,” said LCPS Director of Public Safety Todd Gregory.