FALLBROOK, Calif. - Three Fallbrook High School students were arrested after a photo posted on social media depicting someone holding a gun in a bathroom, prompted a lockdown of the campus.
San Diego Sheriff's Deputies were called to the school at about 10 a.m. when a student reported the social media post. The photo showed a student holding a gun in what was believed to be the school's bathroom.
Deputies arrived and placed the school on lockdown for several hours.
An investigation led authorities to students who may have known the location of the weapon. A Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms K-9 trained to find weapons was called in to help search the ground. Eventually, a loaded gun was found in a classroom.
After the gun was located, the lockdown was lifted and students were dismissed for the rest of the day. No one was injured during the incident.
A 14-year-old and two 15-year-old students were arrested under suspicion of bringing a loaded gun to school.
Isaias Rodriguez, a former friend of one of the teen boys arrested, said he doesn't think the teen was going to use the gun, but may have brought it to school to threaten someone.
“I think they were going to beat up someone with the gun or something like that you know? Threaten them. That’s why he brought it," Rodriguez said. "No one really thought it was him, you know, until he posted that Snapchat. And that’s when you’re like ‘Woah.'"
Rodriquez said the changes in his former friend began after he started spending time with a different group of friends.
“He just started hanging out with the wrong crowd. And I think that’s what happened you know. He wanted to become a gangster," Rodriguez said. “He got the consequences now you know. If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime. Simple you know?”
Deputies said, however, they are still investigating the incident and that more arrests could follow.
Fallbrook High School said support services would be made available to any students who needed them.
