Students flee, parents rush to local high school after social media threat
A social media threat towards a high school in Woodland Hills sent the entire student body into a panic, eliciting a massive police presence and causing hundreds of parents to rush to the school.
A Los Angeles Unified School District spokesperson told KTLA that they became aware of a social media post that “raised concerns about the safety of [Taft High School] campus” early Tuesday morning.
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“At this point, there is no evidence of a credible threat,” the spokesperson said. “We take the safety and security of our students and our campus very seriously. All statements that raise concerns about the safety of our campus are immediately and thoroughly investigated to ensure the safety of our students.”
Video from Sky5 captured hundreds of parents standing outside the front of Taft High, located on Winnetka Avenue.
A social media threat towards a high school in Woodland Hills sent the student body into a panic, eliciting a massive police presence and causing hundreds of parents to rush to the school on Mar. 12, 2024. (Sky5) A social media threat towards a high school in Woodland Hills sent the student body into a panic, eliciting a massive police presence and causing hundreds of parents to rush to the school on Mar. 12, 2024. (RMGNews) A social media threat towards a high school in Woodland Hills sent the student body into a panic, eliciting a massive police presence and causing hundreds of parents to rush to the school on Mar. 12, 2024. (RMGNews) A social media threat towards a high school in Woodland Hills sent the student body into a panic, eliciting a massive police presence and causing hundreds of parents to rush to the school on Mar. 12, 2024. (RMGNews)
According to KTLA 5’s Rich Prickett, neither a lockdown nor an early dismissal was requested.
Students were seen scaling fences to get off campus and to safety out of an abundance of caution.
Several of them told KTLA 5’s Erin Myers that they saw an Instagram post of “a guy with a gun” who issued a warning to students.
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“He just said like ‘Be careful…I’m going to come on Tuesday and just shoot everyone’,” said Taft High School freshman Evan Olivares. “So it was scary when I first saw it because I didn’t know if it was real or not, but the rumor [spread] like wildfire.”
The account that posted the threat was called ‘@taftcaughtslippin’ and included a post that alleged a school shooting was going to take place during fourth period, according to another student, Dhyanesh Dhileepkumar.
The account that posted the threat was called ‘@taftcaughtslippin’ and included a post that alleged a school shooting was going to take place during fourth period. The account that posted the threat was called ‘@taftcaughtslippin’ and included a post that showed a gun on someone’s lap.
“I saw “I’m going to shoot up the school during fourth period’ and I went to the next [Instagram] story and it was him with a gun on his lap,” Dhyanesh said. “I was in a state of panic…everyone was in a state of panic.”
L.A. School and LAPD officers are providing additional patrols in and around the campus, school officials said.
The school district reminds parents and students that they should report all behavior or statements that raise concerns to our staff or local authorities by calling the Los Angeles School Police Department’s communication center at 213-625-6631.
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