Authorities Arrest California Teen for Suspicion to Commit a Crime 

In Berkeley, California, a 16-year-old teenage boy — who is unnamed because he is a juvenile — was arrested after police got a tip that he was compelling other high school students to partake in a local high school mass shooting and bombing.

The alleged plan targeted Berkeley High School, California, according to the police department.

An investigation ensued with a series of witnesses, interviews, and evidence examination. The California police immediately procured a search warrant for the teen’s home after receiving the tip, where they found assault rifles and parts of explosives, electronic devices, and several knives to create additional weapons. The youth services unit in California assumed control of the investigation after that.

Authorities also organized a mental health response to evaluate the teen through the city’s Mobile Crisis Team.

The arrest came from an elementary school mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two teachers.

Since that bloodbath two weeks after a gunman wounded three and killed ten people at a Buffalo, New York supermarket, U.S. authorities have made numerous arrests for dangers against schools.

The California teen suspected of threatening to commit a crime in a local high school surrendered to police. The California education officials are in close contact with the police and rely on their assessment of any ongoing risk to the schools. They are also in continuous communication with this student

On Monday, another arrest was made in Wellington Village, Ohio, where a high school student’s behavior allegedly posed a threat to the school.

In Long Island, New York, an 18-year-old student was captured on Tuesday for his wish to commit a violent act toward students and faculty members” at his school. In May, the teen was suspended from school after apparent entanglement in several brawls.

In Florida, the Lee County sheriff said officers captured a 10-year-old fifth-grader after allegedly writing a threat to conduct a mass shooting.  

Younger assailants

Researchers and investigators are trying to understand how teenagers are driven to acquire such deadly firepower that leads to mass shootings.

There is no single, straightforward explanation for why young men are more likely to engage in mass shootings. But many of the causes cited by academics and law enforcement are lax state gun laws, increasingly aggressive marketing of guns, online bullying, and federal statutes allowing 18-year-olds to buy a long semiautomatic rifle.

Gun deaths picked up during the pandemic

Gun-related casualties slowly rose between 2015 and 2017 and spiked in 2020.

Research from Everytown, the gun safety organization, found a 64% increase in gun purchases from 2019 to 2020.

More and more young people are now carrying guns. Experts believe that unemployment, office and school closure, and social isolation due to the pandemic have contributed to the surge in gun violence.

Young people spend more time on social media, which is correlated to anxiety, higher rates of depression, self-harm, and suicide ideation.

Written by Janet Grace Ortigas

Sources:

The Guardian: Police arrested teen for allegedly planning shooting at Berkeley, California, high school; by Victoria Bekiempis
USA Today: Police arrest 16-year-old after tip he was recruiting students for California mass shooting; by Scott Gleeson
CNN: 16-year-old arrested after police received tip he was recruiting students for a mass shooting at a California high school, officials say; by Taylor Romine

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