West Park High in Roseville placed on lockdown. District said violent threat could be hoax

West Park High School in Roseville was locked down following threats made toward the school Thursday morning on social media, officials said.

Officers with the Roseville Police Department increased their presence on the campus after law enforcement were informed of a post on social media alleging violence would occur at the high school at 12:30 p.m., according to department spokesman Lt. Chris Ciampa.

Ciampa said at 1 p.m. Thursday that police determined the threat was not credible, and all students were released from lockdown.

Roseville Joint Union High School District officials said in a message to parents at 11:30 a.m. Thursday the incident was likely a “swatting” situation with a few leads to investigate.

Swatting is a gaming and social media trend in which someone fraudulently reports a serious threat at a certain target in order to prompt a large law enforcement response, sometimes including a SWAT team.

District officials also said the school was locked down, and they were “reunifying” students to parents who wished to take their children home early.

Police said they are working to locate the author of the message.

“RPD is investigating the source and origination of the posts,” department spokesman Lt. Chris Ciampa said in a statement just before noon.

This story was originally published August 31, 2023 at 12:21 PM with the headline "West Park High in Roseville placed on lockdown. District said violent threat could be hoax."