SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The man accused of sending threats to commit a mass shooting at a Carmel Mountain Ranch elementary school appeared in court Wednesday morning.
Parents whose children attend Shoal Creek Elementary School also came to the court hearing to see the man who made the threats.
Lysandra Athanasakos was one of those parents. When the incident happened on Dec. 1, she said her 8-year-old daughter looked up at her and asked, "Why would someone do this?"
Athanasakos was looking for answers in court on Wednesday.
"I want to know why," Athanasakos said. "I want to know what he was thinking, why he would even attempt something like this. These are innocent children, innocent families, who were just trying to have a nice day at school."
RELATED: Man arrested after mass shooting threats against a Carmel Mountain Ranch school, SDPD says
Athanasakos said the experience continued to leave a scary mark on both her and her daughter's life.
"The first few days afterward I was really hesitant to send her to school, and I didn't," Athanasakos said. "We kept her home for various reasons, but mainly because of this."
Lee Lor, 38, faces one felony count for making criminal threats after he emailed the Shoal Creek Elementary School that he would be "shooting up the school" because that is where his "neighbor's kids attend," according to the San Diego Police Department.
SDPD officers arrested Lor shortly after the email was sent on Dec. 1. He currently cannot make bail.
Lor's next readiness date was set for March 5 and his preliminary hearing was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on March 19.
The Poway Unified School District will host a special school safety summit at 6 p.m. Wednesday to talk about its partnership with law enforcement and how the schools are prepared to respond to threats.
You can see the email the district sent to parents below:
Dear PUSD Families,
In response to recent events locally, regionally, and nationally, PUSD will be hosting a special School Safety Summit this Wednesday, December 13, 2023, from 6:00pm to 7:30pm at the PUSD District Office (located at 15250 Avenue of Science, San Diego, CA 92128) on the topic of school and law enforcement partnerships when assessing and responding to school threats. Associate Superintendent Greg Mizel will be joined by an expert panel including San Diego Police Department Captain Mike Holden; San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott; San Diego County Chief Deputy District Attorney Rachel Solov; and Councilmember Marni von Wilpert (District 5 San Diego). This panel is being convened to address how we as a community can address safety concerns, review school safety protocols, and to share safety and security updates.
The event will be hosted in-person in the District Office community room as well as live streamed and recorded for those who cannot attend in person. The live stream and recording will be available on the PUSD Board of Education YouTube channel and can be accessed by clicking here [youtube.com].
Poway Unified School District
Student Support Services
