POWAY, Calif. (KGTV) – It was nearly a full house of parents and community members Wednesday night at the Poway Unified School District’s headquarters.
The reason for the packed meeting was a panel of police, legal, and government officials on school safety looking at threats and the review and response to them.
The panel meeting comes after a threat was made toward Shoal Creek Elementary on Dec. 1.
“So, this incident at Shoal Creek was extraordinary and we really believed in response. We needed to allow the community an opportunity to come together and hear from the experts,” said Greg Mizel of the Poway Unified School District.
RELATED: Man arrested after mass shooting threats against a Carmel Mountain Ranch school, SDPD says
Twelve days ago, San Diego Police arrested Lee Lor on suspicion of making threats of carrying out a mass shooting at Shoal Creek Elementary.
Lor appeared in court earlier this week and faces a felony count of making criminal threats.
Some feel the meeting was comforting but there were some other feelings as well.
“Too little too late, you know, this is 12 days after the event. We still don’t have answers. Great panel, great team and I commend them for their reactionary measures. But we still need preventative and safety measures. And we didn’t get anything back there.,” Lysandra Athanaskos, a Shoal Creek Elementary parent, said.
Plenty of others had issues about how the threat was communicated to parents.
“It was the vagueness of the details that was so hard. I understand that they have an investigation and they don’t want to compromise everything. But the not knowing was just awful,” Atoosa Mahboubi, a Shoal Creek Elementary parent, added.
RELATED: Man accused of threatening Carmel Mountain Ranch school makes court appearance
“We communicate what we can when we can as fast as we can. That’s my message. And I would ask just for understanding. We don’t control all of the variables and sometimes to communicate or not to communicate is not entirely ours,” Mizel said.
A captain with SDPD’s Northeast Division explained some details at the meeting to those in attendance regarding the December 1st threat.
"The minute we received that information, we ensured we had law enforcement on site, and we had the suspect identified and in custody within three hours of receiving that information,” SDPD Capt. Mike Holden said.
Some parents hope to be a part of a possible solution when it comes to better communication on school threats.
“We’re willing to have a watch team together. We’re willing to work with the principal. But, again, that’s the direct administration; what about the district? I don’t know how to get to that level,” Athanaskos said.
