Suspect Sought In Palo Alto Shooting Threat

PALO ALTO, CA -- Police officers are investigating Friday after an unknown suspect called dispatchers and threatened to "shoot up" Palo Alto High School. The incident was reported around 12:31 p.m. Thursday, police said.

Police said dispatchers received two 911 calls from a male caller who identified himself by a first and last name, before threatening to "shoot up" the school in 15 minutes. Investigators immediately determined the call was a hoax.

All available officers, including those from nearby cities, were called to the school as the administration issued a lockdown, police said.

Police learned that the name provided by the suspect matched that of a current Palo Alto High School student, but it was determined that he had completely no involvement in this incident whatsoever.

The ensuing investigation revealed that the call was placed from a cell phone belonging to an adult not connected to Palo Alto High School, and that the phone had been either lost or stolen from the Town & Country Shopping Center earlier in the day.

After discovering it missing, the phone’s owner had called their cell company to deactivate the phone; for that reason

Detectives are actively working on this case in an effort to identify and arrest the suspect.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call our 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to 650-383-8984. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through our free mobile app, downloadable at www.bit.ly/PAPD-AppStore or www.bit.ly/PAPD-GooglePlay.

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