Aptos High School Student Arrested For Threats

APTOS - A 16-year-old student was arrested Friday on suspicion of threatening gun violence at a school in the Aptos area of unincorporated Santa Cruz County, according to sheriff's deputies.

The sheriff's office was notified by school officials around 11:15 a.m. Wednesday that someone had warned students not to attend school Thursday on social media.

The threat included a reference to gun violence, according to deputies.

Additional patrols were assigned to all the schools within the sheriff's office's jurisdiction as a precaution.

Detectives identified the suspect as a 16-year-old boy attending Aptos High School.

He was arrested at school.

Deputies described the suspect as "co-operative, remorseful and apologetic for his actions that he meant as a joke."

Investigators also determined that four high schools in the Monterey Bay area had received similar threats in previous weeks, though it was unclear whether or not this suspect was responsible for them.

No Santa Cruz County schools were closed as a result of the threat, according to deputies.

-Bay City News, image via ShutterStock