A South Tahoe Middle School student is in custody after allegedly making threats that he would be bringing a gun to Friday night’s dance.

The 12-year-old sent text messages to other students who in turn reported it to school staff, who then called the police on March 9.

“He said he was going to bring a gun. He referenced Columbine in some of his texts and said ‘if you don’t want to die, don’t come to this school dance’,” Lt. Shannon Laney told Lake Tahoe News.

What provoked the child is not known.

Officers located the youth at his home. The house was searched and no firearms were located.

The youth was booked into the El Dorado County Juvenile Treatment Center on criminal threats, which is a felony. 

The Friday night dance is going on as scheduled.

Lake Tahoe Unified School District sent out an email to parents letting them know about the situation. In part it said, “The tistrict wants to assure all parents that there is no threat to the safety of students on campus or at tonight’s special event. The threat has been thoroughly investigated by law enforcement and school administration and has been determined to be without merit. Further, the student who made the threat is not permitted on school property at this time.”

— Lake Tahoe News staff report