Elementary School Students Report Fake Kidnapping

Authorities do not know why several 5- and 6-year-old students at allegedly concocted a false kidnapping story, leading to the mobilizing of police and a school lockdown today, said Capt. Michael Taylor of the Baldwin Park Police Department.

“This morning we received a report of a kidnapping at the school. They basically said they saw a man put a bag over a girl’s head and snatch her away,” Taylor said.

“We shut down the school for an hour, took a head count and saw that all the children were accounted for,” Taylor added.

According to Taylor, Baldwin Park police responded to a call from the school at 10:40 a.m. and established a search perimeter in the neighborhood around the school at 14321 School St. in Baldwin Park. 

“Later, when I interviewed the students again, they confessed that the story was made up,” Taylor said.

The students were remanded to school authorities.

“We take these statements very seriously. The best advice is that students not make up these stories because there are very serious consequences,” the police captain added.