Updated: Security Guard Changes Story About MHS Threats, And Then Overreaction Brews

By
Hans Laetz
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Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriffs

Update, Friday evening: Malibu/Lost Hills sheriff’s deputies have identified the man who reportedly threatened a security guard at Malibu High School on Monday, prompting a security scare.

And the scare intensified into rumor-fed fears sweeping Malibu on Thursday and Friday, as sheriff’s deputies and school officials tried to determine what actually happened and stomp out rumors.
 
A female student was spotted on a bus Thursday morning heading to MHS with three fellow students’ names written down, and that quickly escalated into a conspiracy theory link to the Monday trespasser, and rumors of a hit list. Neither was true, deputies and school officials said.
 
The trespasser on Monday apparently got into confrontation with a school security guard Monday, which was reported by the guard. But by Thursday, that had grown into a reported threat against the school, which significantly escalated sheriff’s deputies’ response.
 
 
KBUU News has been told by sheriff’s deputies speaking off the record that the security guard may not have been telling the truth.
 
 
Nevertheless, the man from Monday’s incident was identifed by detectives Thursday. They said he does does not own any legal guns, and does not have any connection to the school.
 
But there was a gap in investigating the case, because the school security guard did not report the supposed threat to the school to the sheriff’s office Monday, according to a timeline supplied today by the sheriff’s office.
 
And on Friday, the school community was awash in rumors that a girl had made threats on a bus while heading to school on Thursday.
 
On Friday evening, the sheriff’s office said this student only “had a list containing student names on it. The list did not contain any threat, only a list of names.
 
“Deputies spoke with the student, parent of the student and school official,” the Friday statement said. “During the interview, deputies determined there was no threat made to the named students or the school.
 
That did not stop the rumor mill, which went into overdrive linking the student to rumors of an attack and connection with the man kept from entering the campus Monday.
 
The school district spokeswoman said their staff was “disappointed” that its employee did not make accurate statements.

Friday afternoon: Malibu/Lost Hills sheriff’s deputies have identified the man who reportedly threatened a security guard at Malibu High School on Monday, prompting a security scare.

The man does not own any legal guns, deputies said, and is being sought. He does not have any connection to the school, district officials said.

But there was a gap in investigating the case, because the school security guard did not report the threat to the sheriff’s office, according to a timeline supplied today by the sheriff’s office.

The original sheriff’s report made by the guard on Monday “did not include a threat to the school,” deputies said Friday, Sept. 27.

But detectives on Thursday reinterviewed the guard, and then determined that a threat had been leveled against the school. At that point, the investigation was escalated and detectives were assigned to the case.

And they identified a suspect Friday. He is being sought.

The school district spokeswoman said their staff was “disappointed” that its employee did not make clear the extent of what happened Monday.

“It’s unfortunate that we, along with the sheriff’s department, did not get all of the facts,” said Gail Pinsker, SMMUSD spokeswoman, Friday afternoon.

The seriousness of the Monday incident became apparent as deputies worked a second threat case, that was determined to be unrelated to the first one, on Thursday. Rumors swept Malibu on Thursday that the man turned away from the campus on Monday had a romantic relationship with the child who allegedly made threats against classmates on Thursday.

Detectives say the man and student are not connected, nor were the two incidents connected. “We are 100 percent sure on that,” a detective told KBUU News.

“The rumor mill took over this one and connected the two incidents,” Pinsker said.

The second case involves a student who has been isolated from the school campus until all students involved have been counseled, and she has been determined not to be a threat to the school.