El Camino Charter High School on Valley Circle was sent into lockdown Tuesday when a 911 call was made saying there was a bomb threat against the school. The call was sent, for some reason, to Glendale traffic enforcement, who forwarded it to the CHP who then sent it to LAPD. The call was then determined to actually state it was a threat against the school where an unknown person was going to school with a gun. The school went into lockdown and CHP and LAPD officers searched the entire school.
There was not only confusion about the nature of the threat – but confusion as parents complained about the lack of communication about what was happening. LAPD Topanga Division Senior Lead Officer Sean Dinse stated that, “Social media creates panic which creates chaos. The school was prepared as they did have a lockdown drill earlier in the week.” He did suggest, however, that the school needed someone outside that could contact parents on social media with real-time events.
Parents congregated outside the school while police searched the campus. The threat turned out to be without merit and students continued to finish out the school day.
Dinse did tell the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization that phone threats to businesses are increasing in the west valley. “It’s becoming a common thing in the area. But they are coming from computers so they can’t be traced.”
