Police in Los Angeles arrested a 13-year-old boy who allegedly threatened to shoot students at his middle school and seized an assault-style rifle with a high-capacity magazine during a search of his house, reports the Washington Post. When officers took the boy into custody, police said, they found a hand-drawn map of Ánimo Mae Jemison Charter Middle School and a list containing names of students and staff members. Police arrested a 19-year-old male family member on a charge of possession of an unregistered firearm and confiscated about 100 rounds of ammunition. The arrests are the latest effort by authorities to get ahead of a rash of school shooting threats that have rattled the Los Angeles region since a 16-year-old student opened fire on classmates at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita on Nov. 14, killing two and wounding three others. In the past week, police have arrested several teenagers on suspicion of threatening schools in the area and have investigated multiple reports of threats.
At least one student who was arrested, a 17-year-old in Riverside, Ca., was found with ammunition. Another teenager was arrested after posting pictures of himself on social media posing with a gun and bullets and talking about a possible attack at a high school in Palmdale, Ca. “We’ve received a series of threats from the Saugus shooting forward to today and we’ve acted on all of them,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva. As mass shootings rise, experts say high-capacity magazines should be the focus. The 13-year-old’s alleged threats came to light when other students overheard him talking about gunning down his schoolmates. The students immediately told teachers, who notified the sheriff’s department.