On Wednesday, April 17, 2024, shortly after 10:30 PM, Santa Maria Police Department became aware of a potential social media threat to Pioneer Valley High School.
SMPD Dispatch began receiving numerous calls regarding the social media post. PVHS administrators also became aware of the possible threat and contacted SMPD to report the incident.
SMPD officers began to investigate the post by contacting several involved students in an attempt to locate the source. Officers were able to contact several students and conduct searches to determine the validity of the threat.
An air soft gun that was photographed in the social media post was recovered. After a thorough investigation, all involved parties were contacted and determined there was no credible threat against the school. PVHS administrators were notified of the details of the investigation.
SMPD takes these threats seriously and would like to thank the community for their vigilance in reporting suspicious posts on social media and assisting with keeping our community safe.
This is becoming too frequent. Schools should never be a target for violence.