SANTEE (NEWS 8) – An unfounded threat at West Hills High School in Santee prompted heightened security measures on campus Friday.
Authorities Friday morning investigated what was initially believed to be a threat of violence targeting West Hills High School, but officials wound up determining, however, that the threat involved Western Hills High School in Frankfort, Ky., according to San Diego County sheriff's Sgt. Phil Beaumont.
West Hills High School parents like Samantha Pennington said authorities and school officials “were quick to explain that it was unfounded and that there was nothing to worry about, but they wanted to make sure parents knew what was going on.”
The investigation began Thursday night when a parent and student called deputies to report a possible threat on Instagram. The post was taken down, but deputies said it was a picture of a warning to students not to come to school that was scratched in a bathroom stall.
“Any time we get a school threat we take it very seriously and we have to investigate it,” said an official.
Some parents told News 8 they thought they could have been notified earlier. “That way I would have the choice whether to send my kid to school or not based on my discretion,” said one parent.
Other parents like Pennington said the district did the right thing, but it is a reminder about the potential danger at school.
Deputies were assigned to conduct extra patrols at the Santee campus throughout the day “out of an abundance of caution,” Beaumont said.