Las Vegas high school students arrested for making ‘terroristic threats’
Two students at West Career and Technical Academy were arrested on suspicion of making “terroristic threats” to carry out a shooting at the Las Vegas high school, district officials said Tuesday.
School officials were tipped off to the threats and immediately contacted school police on Jan. 22, according to a message sent home to parents Monday by Amy Dockter-Rozar, principal at the magnet school. Police determined there was no immediate threat, but the students were arrested later that day, it said. It’s unclear why the school waited a week to inform parents about the arrests.
Clark County School District Police Capt. Ken Young said the students — a male and female, both 14 — were threatening through social media to shoot up the school.
“Now the message has been out for the last couple years, if you make those kind of threats we’ll do what we have to do to find out who originated it and we’ll make the referral to the juvenile or the adult system depending on their age,” Young said.
Dockter-Rozar made the same point in her message to parents.
“The arrests provide us with an opportunity to remind parents to have discussions with your child regarding making threatening statements and that there are consequences that go with inappropriate conduct,” she said. “It is also important for students and parents to report any possible suspicious activity or behavior to school administration and/or law enforcement.”
The principal also sent home a message Monday about a teacher who was arrested Friday on suspicion of sexual misconduct with a student. School police said the cases are not related.
Renee Rine, 36, a math teacher at West Tech, was arrested Friday for one count each of being a school employee in a position of authority engaging in sexual conduct with a pupil 16 or older, first-degree attempted kidnapping to engage in sex, lewdness with a child who is 14 or 15 years old, contact with a minor or mentally ill person and child abuse or neglect.
The threat against West Tech was the second against a valley high school in recent months.
In October, a Centennial High School student was arrested on charges of making bomb threats by school police. Police do not believe 18-year-old Toni Strickland intended to carry out the threat.
Las Vegas Justice Court records show Strickland was released on bail Oct. 17 for a mental health counseling plan put together by her social worker. She has been ordered to stay away from Centennial and make no contact with students. A court date for plea negotiations is scheduled for Feb. 22.
Contact Meghin Delaney at 702-383-0281 or mdelaney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @MeghinDelaney on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Rio Lacanlale contributed to this story.
